Comatose
by xxBrownSugarxx
Summary: It started with a dream...no, a nightmare! But red eyes and sharp teeth aren't real right? Amy never expected her life to change and it started with HIM. "Waking up to you never felt so real..." SonAmy AU
1. Dream

_Incoming call_

_Cream_

What could she want this late?

Amy decided to pick up the phone. It wasn't very often that her friends called her. They would usually text her.

"Hello?"

"_Hey Amy, what are you doing now?"_

"Uh, nothing much."

"_Are you busy?"_

"No, not really."

"_Well, Rouge just had this idea to go to the cemetery."_

"Now? Cemetery? Where did she get an idea like that?"

"_You know how imaginative she gets when she's bored."_

"Couldn't we get caught or something?"

"_She claimed that was the fun of it all."_

"Right, 'cause spending the night in jail is part of the fun of it all."

Cream laughed.

"_Well at least we'll be in it together. Everyone does it, I'm sure IF we got caught we wouldn't get into too much trouble."_

"And what exactly are we going there to do?"

"_I'm not really sure but we'll come up with something interesting. I hear it's actually haunted there like people have ACTUALLY felt spirits."_

"Mhmm…"

"_Well if you want to come, I'll pick you up by the bus stop near your subdivision in 15 minutes."_

"Umm…"

It WOULD be better than staying in her room.

She could just leave a note that her parents would probably find in the morning anyway since they didn't come out of their rooms.

The most they would do is ground her but she highly doubted they would notice that she was even gone.

"Alright, I'll meet you there."

"_Coolness! Seeya in 15!"_

Amy threw on the first things she picked up in her closet, a chunky long sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans.

She quickly wrapped a thick, black scarf around her neck and slipped her feet into black combat boots.

She grabbed her black knitted beanie and slipped it over her head, leaving her short pink quills to fall messily.

She stuffed a $20 bill, her cell phone, Chap Stick, and her keys into her over-the-shoulder bag before she made her way down the stairs.

She didn't sneak or try to be excessively quiet. No one would care anyway.

She went into the kitchen to write a note.

However, what she didn't expect to see was her father sitting at the island counter.

She didn't say anything; she just watched.

A handsome, white hedgehog her father was, though he looked completely worn out. She noticed he was holding a glass with that dreadful amber liquid. He was developing bad habits as well.

His darker green eyes met hers and she noticed how tired they were.

"Where the hell are you going?"

"Well…I-I'm going for a walk."

She knew he wouldn't say anything else. She used to take walks with them all the time late at night so it wasn't an odd thing for her to do.

She knew he was drinking and he would be sleeping within the next few minutes.

"Goodnight, Dad."

She silently watched as her father chugged more liquor down his throat. He didn't utter a word.

* * *

><p>The town's cemetery was always eerie at night. It was away from the main road where barely anything else existed.<p>

There were barely any streetlights, and the paths were worn out and old. The gates were spiky, black, and gothic looking. The vines that spiraled around them only completed the haunted look.

"OK FOLKS! THE NIGHT IS YOUNG SO LET'S TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT!"

Everyone looked at Rouge like she grew another head.

Coming out of one car was Amy, Cream, Tails, and Blaze. The other car carried Rouge, Knuckles, Shadow, and Silver.

"What the fuck are you so loud for?"

"Are you scared Knuckie?"

Rouge used a baby voice and pinched her boyfriend's cheeks.

"Shut up."

"I hope we didn't just come here to watch the Rouge and Knuckles show."

"Shadow, why don't you take that metal stick out of your ass and use it to knock yourself out."

Cream started to laugh but she stopped herself when Shadow looked at her.

"Alright, are we gonna try and get into this place or what?", Silver asked.

"Well, do you have any ideas?"

"I was actually thinking that we could pick the lock. It looks old fashioned so a bobby pin should do it."

"Gee, that sounds like a great idea except THIS ISN'T ONE OF THOSE MOVIES!"

Knuckled rolled his eyes at his boisterous girlfriend while Shadow exhaled in frustration. Silver scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and decided to just walk over to his own girlfriend.

"It's worth a shot.", Blaze quietly mentioned.

"So who has a bobby pin on them?"

Everyone looked around at one another. Of course the boys didn't have any. Rouge always wore her hair out, Cream only had bangs, and Blaze's hair tied her hair up with elastics.

Amy noticed all eyes on her.

"What?"

"Get out of that daze girl! Do you have any bobby pins?"

Amy opened her purse and searched through it. She actually should have one in there. She had so many little knick knacks in there that she never emptied.

Everyone's eyes seemed to brightened when they saw Amy pull out 4 bobby pins.

"ALRIGHT! Now who wants to work the lock?"

"I'll pick the lock."

Every watched as Shadow walked over to Amy and took the bobby pins from her.

"Of course the hooligan will pick the lock."

Shadow looked over at Rouge.

"I heard that."

Shadow fiddled with the lock for about 5 minutes until the group started to lose hope.

"Why don't we just forget this idea?"

"No Cream, we're going to do this."

"What about going to someone's place to watch scary movies instead?"

"Don't take her side Tails! This is going to be fun I swear!"

Knuckles sighed.

"What are you sighing for huh? You should be glad I got you out the house!"

He closed his eyes and silently counted to 10.

Amy watched her friends and their usual antics. The night was cool but not unbearably cold. It was a bit misty as well. Perhaps it would rain soon. She liked the rain.

Suddenly, everyone heard a distinct 'click' sound. The big lock fell to the floor and Shadow stood up.

"Done."

"So, do I want to know how and why you learned to do that?"

Shadow smirked and said no more.

* * *

><p>There was no one word that could describe the cemetery at night.<p>

More fog seemed to roll in and the stillness in the air managed to send chills down spines. It was silent but it was everything but comforting.

Amy tried not to look around too much. Instead, she watched Shadow's back as she followed in line behind him and her friends. He seemed fearless enough so she tried to feed off of it.

The truth was that she had a gut feeling that the night would go badly. She didn't believe in all of the things in the movies and television shows but she did believe it was wrong to disturb the peace like they were doing now.

Everyone abruptly stopped as Rouge screamed out.

"WHAT HAPPENED?"

"HAHA GOTCHA!"

Blaze pushed Rouge whose laughter cackled like a witch throughout the cemetery.

They all settled in an area where there were stone benches for them to sit on and they were situated in a circle near a dried fountain with stone angels. It looked anything but angelic at night.

Rouge sat next to Knuckles on one bench. Cream and Tails were on one, Blaze and Silver were on another, and Amy and Shadow were on the last one. They all faced one another.

"S-So what now?"

Tails put his arm around his girlfriend. He thought she was cold but in reality, she was scared. Not only was there a chance that they could get caught but the environment was starting to get to her.

It was too quiet, it was starting to get unusually cold, the fog was making it hard to see clearly, and every little noise was unnerving.

"So now we do some dares. You know like those shows where people complete missions in a haunted place for money? Like that."

"Why did you come up with this plan again?", Blaze asked.

"Oh come on ice princess, I know you were all bored in your homes. There's nothing like a little scary fun. You only live once!"

Blaze rolled her eyes and snuggled closer to Silver who put his arm around her.

Amy looked around at her coupled friends. Even as she was in a cemetery late at night, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to her own loneliness.

How was it that she could be with a group of people and still feel incredibly lonely?

Then she remembered who was next to her. She didn't know him too well, he was more of Rouge's friend but somehow they always got stuck together when an activity called for pairs.

She didn't really mind him because he didn't say much to her and she supposed that he was attractive but that was it. She didn't like his type anyway. At school she would either see him smoking outside or brooding near the staircases or any dark corner with his other friends.

She would see him as she was passing, nod to acknowledge him, and put a pep in her step. She knew he and his friends were never up to any good.

"Ok Cream, you're first!"

"W-WHAT? WHY ME?"

"Because you're the biggest scaredy cat right now."

"No I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Anyway, your dare is to-"

"No, I'm not doing it, not alone at least."

Rouge rolled her eyes.

"Ok, fine you can do it with Tails. We can all pick a partner if that'll make everyone participate but that only means that the dares have to be scarier."

No one nodded but there was a silent agreement amongst everyone.

"Ok, so you and Tails have to go take a picture of a gravestone with a name starting with the letter K and come back to show us with your phones. If you don't come back within 10 minutes then call one of us."

"Rouge there's just one problem with that…we have no connection."

"Blaze, stop lying. Why would we have no connection it's not like we're…"

Rouge trailed off as she saw that her phone really had no connection.

Everyone then looked at their own phones and it was true, there was no connection.

"Rouge I don't think this is such a good idea anymore. We don't have cell phone connection so what if something goes wrong?"

"Relax Cream. This isn't a big place. We'll find you if anything and it's not like anything will happen anyway. You guys are a bunch of chickens."

Silence.

"You know what? Dare me first! Bring it on!"

Blaze pulled up from Silver and smirked at Rouge. She would definitely be the one to dare her.

"Alright Ms. Fearless, I dare you to get into the crypt up the hill and bring something back from it."

Silence.

"So you're coming with me right Knuckie?"

Everyone started laughing.

"How did I get pulled into this?"

"I DID say we would do the dares with partners so let's get going."

Rouge grabbed Knuckles' arm and pulled him to walk with her up the hill.

"So what do we do?"

"I guess talk."

Silence.

"I'm sorry, I seriously don't want to do this anymore."

Everyone looked at Cream and she looked to be on the verge of tears.

Her boyfriend pulled her closer, regretting having even agreed to this.

"Rouge can't force you to do anything you don't want to. We'll just stay here. It's a shame we can't just leave. Amy and Blaze won't have a way to get home."

Cream leaned more into Tails' embrace.

It was quiet again.

"How is she going to get into the crypt?", Silver asked.

"I don't know, she better figure something out with that loud mouth of hers."

Shadow smirked. The bat really did have a big mouth. Lord only knew how Knuckles dealt with her.

"So are all of you coming to the costume party at the club?"

"Yeah! That'll be loads of fun! Unlike this…"

"What are you guys dressing up as?"

"Well Blaze and I were thinking of going as vampires."

"Me and Tails want to go as those old time kings and queens. I actually had my mom make our costumes. They look so good! Right Tails?"

Amy really wanted to be happy but all that she was feeling was anger.

Of course she couldn't fit in with the conversation. She had no one to dress up with like them. And if she tried to tell them that, they would just tell her to dress up with Shadow. That was the solution to everything when it involved her being left out. Who even said she liked to be paired with him all the time?

They just grew so accustomed to ignoring her and leaving her out of their chats when it involved their boyfriends.

"Yeah, we were going to wear matching shirts to school that day."

"Me and Silver did that for Valentine's Day one year and the student government got a picture of us."

"Yeah I saw that one! You didn't look too happy in the picture Blaze."

"Well that was because I was kind of in the middle of a conversation."

"You mean you were in the middle of telling Silver off."

"HEY! Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

The sounds of laughter only intensified the anger Amy felt. They just continued on and on.

At least she wasn't the only one not laughing. Her eternal partner was stoic as ever.

Just as the laughter died down, the gang suddenly heard cackling laughter.

"HAHA BITCHES!"

Rouge came skipping down the hill with a metal pail in her hand. Knuckles walked behind her shaking his head.

She dropped the pail in the middle of the circle and had her hands proudly on her hips.

"Piece of cake!"

"Wow, you completed that in record time! Knuckles did she really go in and get that pail?"

"Yeah she did but she's fooling all of you with that confidence. She was actually-"

Rouge quickly covered Knuckles' mouth and punched him in the stomach.

Blaze started laughing because she knew just then that Rouge was scared.

That was probably why she was skipping over here. She was probably so scared that she just wanted to get away from the crypt in the fastest way possible without giving her fear away.

"Alright, whose next?"

No one was going to pick Cream since she had voiced how scared she was and that also meant Tails wasn't going to be next either.

"Amy."

Amy's eyes went straight to Blaze.

How dare she! Now they decided she existed? Just because no one else wanted to go?

Despite how she really felt, Amy was quiet.

"Amy it is! There's nothing dangerous hun so don't even worry and I won't even give you something bad."

"Sure you won't 'cause now you understand that-"

Rouge covered Knuckles' mouth again.

"I dare you to steal a flower from one of the graves up the hill."

Amy didn't say a word. She supposed this wasn't as bad as the crypt. Her dare could take 2 minutes if she ran.

"Your partner is Shadow."

As if she didn't see that one coming. Who else would it have been?

She sighed and got up from the stone bench. Shadow followed behind her.

* * *

><p>"Why did you guys pick her?"<p>

"She was really quiet this whole time and I thought she should be included."

"She's a bit boring tonight. She doesn't even seem scared and her asshole partner is DEFINITELY no fun."

Cream was silent but she wished they would stop talking about Amy. Sure she didn't seem like herself tonight but they didn't have to call her boring because of it.

"They should be back in about a minute."

"And then YOU'RE next ICE PRINCESS. And boy am I gonna get you good!"

* * *

><p>Amy tried to ignore the silence.<p>

Her heart began to pump so much that she felt it all over. She couldn't stop thinking that something would pop out or that she would hear an unusual sound that would send her running away.

Her senses became sharper and she wished she wasn't so on edge. Her eyes kept scanning all around and her ears were keen to the slightest sound. Her nose wasn't as sharp because she was breathing in and out of it to calm herself down. Her hands were balled up into fists. She didn't even want to feel the cool air or have anything brush past her palms and drive her crazy.

She wasn't a believer but the more she walked, the more she envisioned impossible scenarios.

Shadow made her feel no better. He didn't make a sound and Amy almost forgot he was there. She slowed her walking so she would fall into step with him. Of course he had no comment about it. Why did he agree to come anyway if he was so annoyed all the time?

Amy took her concentration off of her surroundings for a second to look at the black hedgehog. He certainly looked like he belonged in these parts with his black trench coat, black jeans, and all black sneakers. She almost couldn't see him clearly if it weren't for his red streaks, shiny piercings in his ears, and those blood red eyes.

If she didn't know him, she would have been even more frightened but fortunately she was paired with him enough to know that he wouldn't really do anything weird to her.

If anything he probably-

"AHHH!"

X

* * *

><p>"Did you guys hear that?"<p>

"No?"

"I heard it! Someone screamed! It was probably Amy! Maybe we should go after her!"

"Relax Cream, it was probably a crow. That girl isn't scared."

Silence.

"Well if she doesn't come back in 5 minutes then we should really go look for her."

"Are you guys forgetting that she has Shadow with her? She's alright trust me."

X

* * *

><p>Shadow looked down at the pink hedgehog. They were walking down the hill until he heard her scream and saw her go down tumbling the rest of the way. She landed in the lawn right in front of a gravestone.<p>

Her hat had slipped off from her head, she had a nice big blood soaked tear in her jeans, and she was crying.

She swiped her injured knee and brought her hands up to see that she was, indeed, bleeding.

For a few seconds her whimpers filled the silent air.

"I-I just want to g-go home now."

Shadow looked pained, constipated even. Perhaps he was disgusted with her babyish behavior but she couldn't help it. She didn't want to be next in the first place. She thought this was going to be a fun outting but all it did was a remind her of how lonely she really was. At least at home she had an excuse. She locked herself in her room on purpose but here she was right there and she was still overlooked and out of the loop.

She was tired of being so upset. Every single night her mind betrayed her and obsessed over all of the bad things.

She remembered the shouting and arguing of her parents, they were on the verge of separation.

She didn't even exist anymore. She wished she at least had a sibling to share the pain with but she would have to bear it by herself.

No one ever liked her, no one ever showed interest in her, and her friends weren't really good friends at all. EVERYONE was a liar and NO ONE would really love her and stick by her.

Suddenly, Amy found herself breathing heavier. As soon as she focused her attention on her breathing, she quickly came to the realization that it was actually hard to get a grip.

The chill in the air was piercing, didn't Shadow feel it? It was making it harder for her.

"Rose."

Amy just COULDN'T get a grip. She started to panic, causing her to start gasping.

"Rose. If this is a game, it's not funny."

She started flailing her arms in even more panic. She seriously couldn't breathe! She needed help! Why did he think this was a joke?

She couldn't scream, she couldn't let him know that she really needed help.

She gasped one last time before she fell back. Just before her eyes closed, her blurry vision focused on the words on the gravestone that she fell in front of.

_Sonic the Hedgehog_

_Beloved Husband_

* * *

><p><em>He was dressed in a black suit with a crisp white button up shirt. He didn't look too extraordinary but he was handsome all the same.<em>

_Across from him was a lovely lady with long auburn hair curled perfectly and an expensive looking white dress. _

_It was just them two in a small room with a priest standing at a small alter in the middle of the couple. _

"_Do you take Sonic to be your lawful husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"_

"_I do."_

"_And do you take Sally to be your lawful wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do you part?"_

"_Of course I do."_

"_Then I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."_

_Suddenly he was cornered in a dark alley. He wore dark jeans and a black t-shirt with a black leather jacket. He was taking out the "trash"._

"_Did you really think you would get away with doing this?"_

"_I already did. If anything I'm the one who saved her from the likes of you and YOUR king. He's no king of mine, not even a brother." _

"_How dare you!"_

_Suddenly he was gasping. What had they injected into him? The chilling water made it so much harder for him to control himself. He flailed his arms in panic but to no avail. He gasped one last time before he sank._

* * *

><p>"AHHHHHH!"<p>

She was held still by dark arms.

A whole team of nurses came rushing in at the sound.

Tears filled her eyes and fell rapidly. She was panting but at least she felt like she could breathe.

"Shhh it's ok honey."

One nurse put an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose.

Almost instantly she was breathing soundly. That was when she took in her surroundings.

She was in a hospital that was for sure.

Then her eyes caught sight of a black and red hedgehog. He stood out so vividly against the pastel themed room.

Why was he here? What time was it? Where was everyone?

Then it all came rushing back to her like a punch to the stomach.

They were all in the cemetery and then she was dared to get a flower from a grave. She felt like something had grabbed her ankle and sent her tumbling down the hill.

She got hurt and she was upset. Then she started to lose her breath.

She felt the panic rising in her chest. She violently ripped the oxygen mask off of her face.

"WHERE IS EVERYBODY?"

The nurses made a quick formation to restrain the pink hedgehog if need be.

"They sent their regards and wished they could have been here but they didn't want to risk coming here and getting in trouble at home."

Of course...

"So why are you here?"

"Because I'm not them."

"Obviously…Don't you have to get home too? I don't need your pity."

"I never knew you had such a sharp tongue Rose."

"Where's my parents? Do they know? Please tell me they don't?"

Amy turned to the nurses.

"Please tell me you didn't contact them! Please don't! I'm ok!"

One of the nurses sighed.

"You didn't have your insurance card on you or your identification so we asked your boyfriend and he said that he would contact your parents."

"But he's not-"

"I think you need to rest Rose. You've had a long night."

"He's right sweetheart. The doctor should be in here shortly to discuss your condition. In the meantime, please drink some water."

The nurses smiled warmly before they left the room.

"What is going on right now?"

"I saved your ass that's what. If I didn't give them a believable story they would've found a way to contact your parents and you would've been toast."

"And just why do you care? How does this benefit you?"

Silence.

"Well?"

"It benefits me."

Of course…

"Surprisingly the fact that you're so blatantly and cruelly honest doesn't even bother me. So how does it benefit you?"

"Just shut up already and drink the damn water."

"Don't tell me what to-"

"Oh my, have I walked in at the wrong time? A lovers spat?"

Amy wanted to pull her quills out. Now not only was she always partnered with the rude hedgehog but now everyone in the damn hospital thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Heh, heh not really."

Amy ground her teeth to keep herself from yelling out.

"Ah. How are you feeling Ms. Rose?"

"I'm great."

"Good to hear, so I'll get straight to the point. Your vitals are good, heart's healthy, and your lungs are fine. We found your medical records through a partnering database and you didn't have a history with asthma so it was quite a shock to have you in here unconscious because of a sudden attack. Though, it can be brought on by many things.

Your boyfriend informed us about everything that happened and I can only conclude that the sudden chill had something to do with your shortness of breath. I also believe that being exposed to so much second hand smoke had a lot to do with it as well. Perhaps you're sensitive to it.

He also spoke about how stressed you were with school work and that you've been depressed lately.

All of these factors could have brought on your attack."

Second hand smoke? School work? DEPRESSION? What kind of bullshit story did Shadow tell?

"I see."

"Well everything seems in order with you now. I'll just recheck everything and then you'll be released. Give me one moment please."

As the doctor walked out, Amy glared at Shadow.

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>She just wanted to forget that the whole night happened.<p>

Shadow had so graciously paid for a taxi, making a good show of how lovely of a 'boyfriend' he was. Of course the moment they were out of earshot, he went back to being the partner. Though, she caught him staring very intently at her even glaring sometimes. It was as if he was looking through her and not at her.

Amy sighed. She was really drained and ready to just sleep everything off in an attempt to forget it.

The last thing she would have to do was sneak inside of the house and successfully make it to her room.

She rounded her house and fumbled around the backyard for the spare key.

It was cliché but she found the spare in one of the flower pots.

She tried her best to open the back door that lead to the kitchen without making much sound.

She crept her way through the kitchen and was about to make it up the stairs.

"Why are you coming in at 4:00 in the morning?"

Amy froze in place.

Then suddenly the lights came on.

"So not only do I have my daughter coming in at such an unacceptable hour but also my so called husband is passed out in the kitchen with an empty bottle of whiskey. What a sight to behold huh?"

Amy knew that tone of voice. Her mother was angry and she wouldn't get to just leave and go upstairs now.

She heard the groaning of her father. She was actually surprised that he passed out in the kitchen. She thought he had enough sense to go back to his room.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Yeah what the hell is REALLY going on?"

Amy stayed silent. She was nervous. Every time her parents fought, she was nervous.

Her father made his way over to them.

"Just look at you…struggling to even keep your eyes open. How's that headache?"

"Terrible thanks to your yelling."

"I'm yelling because our daughter here is just coming in from God knows where."

Amy dropped her head the moment her father looked at her.

"Didn't you say you were going on a walk?"

"Yes."

"A walk doesn't take hours long Amy."

"I know."

"So where were you?", her mother asked.

Silence.

"ANSWER ME YOUNG LADY!"

Amy felt the tears already building up.

"Just calm down Elizabeth."

"Calm down? DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME SHIT ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE THIS JOSEPH! Maybe if you didn't spend the whole friggin night drinking yourself to sleep she wouldn't have gotten away with this so easily."

"You're talking about me? WHOSE THE ONE WHO LOCKS THEMSELVES IN THE ROOM FOR HOURS AT A TIME? AND YOU BLAME ME?"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO LET HER GO OUT ON A WALK! YOU WERE PROBABLY TOO DRUNK TO USE YOUR COMMON SENSE!"

"It's not his fault."

Tears spilled from Amy's eyes during the moment of silence.

"Oh? So what exactly ISN'T his fault?"

"I-I lied."

"No SHIT Amy. I'll ask you this one last time…Where were you tonight?"

"I-I-"

"Cut the waterworks! You're 17 damn years old and you sure as hell weren't crying when you decided to sneak out of the house! WHERE WERE YOU?"

"I-I was at the cemetery with my friends."

"You were at the cemetery huh? IS THAT WHY I GOT A CALL FROM THE HOSPITAL?

"But I thought-"

"They wouldn't call? DON'T BE STUPID CHILD! You're a minor, of course they called home!"

"I-I'm sorry…"

"I don't even care anymore Amy. I don't want to hear it. It serves you right! You should have never snuck out in the first place!"

Tears…so many tears.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? I understand if you take your father for a fool, but I am NOT him! GO TO YOUR ROOM AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN! THEN I'LL FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH YOU!"

Amy ran up the stairs, she ran away from the reality.

She messily took off her clothing and only left herself in her underwear.

The tears kept falling and she couldn't stop them.

Her mother's shouting reached her ears and she jumped when she heard a loud noise. It was probably her father taking his anger out on something again.

Quietly and slowly she got up from the floor and sat on her bed with her legs hanging off the side. She leaned over to rummage through her side drawer for something.

The gleam of the silver object shined through the darkness.

She rolled up her sleeve. A scar was still there. She knew it was wrong.

How else could she deal with it all? She couldn't scream at the top of her lungs, she couldn't destroy everything she touched, she couldn't talk to her parents, she couldn't talk to her friends because no one truly wanted to listen about her depressive life when they had boyfriends.

She was trembling. Was she really going to make a habit of this? Her vision blurred as warm tears fell down her face.

How was it possible to feel so angry and sad at the same time?

She brought the blade closer to her pale skin. She was making herself sick over the months with not eating much and staying inside most of the time. Of course her parents didn't care to notice and her friends just thought she was dieting.

Just as she got the courage to nick herself, she jumped and dropped the sharp object at an overwhelming feeling of coldness.

Her skin literally prickled and goose bumps formed all over her arms and legs.

Though she was only in her underwear, there were no windows open, the heater was on, and she definitely wasn't this cold seconds ago.

She turned around to see if her door was opened but what she actually saw made her scream out.

In the corner of her bedroom near her closet, she saw an unmistakable black fog.

She stumbled off of her bed and made a beeline for the door. Her trembling hands fumbled with the knob but it wouldn't open.

She didn't dare look in the corner. It wasn't real, it just wasn't real.

She frantically kept trying with the door. She even tried pulling it open by force. Then she pounded on the door.

"HELP! MOM! DAD!"

No one was coming. She didn't hear any footsteps.

The prickling intensified to the point where it actually started hurting.

Then she saw it.

Glowing red, invaded her peripheral vision.

His navy blue color almost looked black with the fog rolling off of him.

His attire was all black. He wore a black long-sleeved v-neck shirt, black pants, black shoes, and black leather finger-less gloves.

Glowing red orbs were looking hard at her.

Amy was shook with terror and fear. She screamed the loudest she could but her parents still wouldn't come.

The vision of this…THING had her frozen in place by the door.

She was physically trembling and crying. She had never been so afraid, it was torture. She squeezed her eyes shut and started convulsing on the floor.

The next thing she knew, it was like a blanket of warmth was draped over her.

She stopped shaking and finally opened her eyes. However, she jumped when the thing was knelt down right in front of her.

She screamed again, tears still falling from her eyes.

"STOP!"

The thing looked at her with an expression that actually didn't look threatening. Was it confused?

The more Amy looked at the thing, the more it looked familiar.

"S-Shadow?"

The thing's expression changed and its eyes seemed to glow even more venomously. The fog seemed to roll off in even thicker clouds.

The skin prickling feeling started to come back.

"STOP! I'M SORRY!", she screamed once more.

She cradled her head and hid herself from the thing.

Almost instantly, the blanket of warmth came back. Amy had somehow concluded that it was safe when she felt this "blanket of warmth".

She bravely looked at the thing. It didn't harm her as yet and just continued to stare at her. Perhaps she could try to talk to it while this warm feeling still existed.

"W-What are you?"

"…"

"Y-You're a ghost?"

"…"

Did it talk? It's expression wasn't changing. However, Amy knew it's expression COULD change. It had gotten angry when she called it Shadow. Did it know Shadow? She wouldn't dare ask about it again anyway.

"W-What is your name?"

"…"

All it did was stare at her with those glowing red eyes.

"D-Do you talk?"

"…"

Amy was feeling a bit more confident and sat up properly. She was leaning her back against the door and hugged her knees to herself.

She didn't ask another question as yet. She looked at the thing. It wasn't ugly. It COULD be scary but right now it looked, dare she think it, handsome. It looked not too old either.

Suddenly she felt self-conscious. She was in her underwear in front of the thing.

Then she saw the thing smirk. The thing actually SMIRKED!

She looked at him in disbelief.

"Just what are you smirking at?"

Amy gasped at herself. Her hand flew to her offensive mouth. She hadn't meant to let that out. The thing would kill her now she just knew it would!

Then she heard it. It LAUGHED!

Her eyes were huge.

"Y-You can understand me?"

It nodded. It RESPONDED TO HER!

"WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER MY QUESTIONS? WHO ARE YOU?"

The thing smiled.

"So this is the real you huh?"

She gasped again.

"I really wish you wouldn't react like that."

"B-But...you can talk!"

Not only could he talk but his voice was, dare she think it, sexy.

"Yes, I can talk."

"So why wouldn't you answer me before?"

"It was fun to see you squirm."

"EXCUSE ME? YOU THINK THAT WAS FUNNY? GET AWAY! JUST GO AWAY!"

The thing laughed again.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!"

"My name is Sonic the Hedgehog."

The gears started turning the moment she heard that. The name was familiar. Why was it so familiar?

Then it hit her. That was the name she saw on the gravestone before she passed out. That was the last thing she remembered.

"Y-You...I saw your name on a gravestone. YOU'RE DEAD!"

"…"

"WHAT IS HAPPENING? W-WHY? HOW? GO AWAY!"

"There was something about your energy. Many have crossed my path but never before was there someone who had energy like yours. It was so unique. It was very easy to lock on to you."

Amy's mind was spinning. What the fuck was going on? She should be running for her life, she should be trying to escape, but she was sitting there entertaining conversation with the thing…or should she start calling him Sonic.

"W-What do you mean lock on?"

"My soul is not the average soul. I do not rest in peace. Instead, I waited for the opportunity when I could attach my soul to someone who was compatible. So that someone could revive me. So thank you."

"REVIVE YOU? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU? I CAN'T REVIVE YOU! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Your energy is the one that called upon me so I can't just leave you alone. I won't allow you to do what you were just about to do either."

For some strange reason, Amy's cheeks flushed with rosy color. It, well he, had seen. Was that what summoned him? Did that have to do with the energy he was going on about?

"Why are you in your underwear anyway? It's teasing me you know."

Amy gasped and finally attempted to cover herself.

"HOW DARE YOU! I DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A PERVERT! GHOSTS CAN'T BE PERVERTS!"

The thing, well he, laughed.

"You have a lot of false preconceptions."

"Actually NO! You're just figment of my imagination! I'm going to close my eyes, open them, and then you'll be gone. I'm just going crazy that's all."

Amy closed her eyes tightly, counted to ten, and then opened her eyes again.

The thing, well Sonic, was even closer to her now. He was sitting directly in front of her.

"I suppose you're still going crazy?"

"SHUT UP! YOU JUST SHUT UP!"

Sonic laughed.

"You're quite bossy."

"YOU'RE QUITE ANNOYING!"

Sonic laughed again.

"I haven't laughed this much in hundreds of years."

Something clicked.

"Wait…hundreds of years?"

"Yes."

"Y-You lived for that long? But wait, how long have you been dead and when where you born?"

He smirked.

The air suddenly felt uncomfortable. The warm "blanket" wasn't quite warm anymore. In fact, the prickling feeling was slowly coming back again.

Then she saw it.

Slowly he smiled, and then she saw it.

Gleaming, shining, white, FANGS!

Amy screamed.

* * *

><p><strong>*BEEP BEEP BEEP*<strong>

Amy screamed.

"AMY?"

Amy's mother came running into her room.

"Are you alright?"

Amy looked stunned and she was struggling to catch her breath.

"Y-Yeah, I just had a bad dream that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Amy smiled.

"No, it was just a stupid dream. It wasn't real."

"Well ok. Go get ready for school then."

Amy looked at her alarm clock. The red numbers read,

**6:50 A.M**

She sat in bed for just a few minutes more.

The dream was so real. She remembered all of it. It was a nightmare!

It was so vivid! She looked at her pillows and saw wet spots on them. Had she actually been crying?

She could believe it. The dream was damn scary!

Her parents were so vicious! Her father was drinking himself to death and her mother just didn't care. She said such hurtful things to her!

Her friends acted like she wasn't even there! It was scary that lately she had actually been feeling that way.

Shadow was the most realistic out of all of them. He acted just like he did in reality. They paired up, just like reality. He was dressed just like in reality.

And Sonic? She had never heard the name before. Was he actually a person?

No of course not! Because real people didn't have fangs and they weren't…

"AMY? I DON'T HEAR THE SHOWER RUNNING!"

Amy rushed out of bed and into the bathroom. She wouldn't think of the dream anymore. It was a dream…nothing more.

X

* * *

><p><strong>1 Week Later<strong>

Amy walked into class looking good as new.

Over the past week she had been on edge and she was constantly thinking about her nightmare but by the end of the week, she was back to being herself.

She had actually had a good weekend with her parents and it cured her of any left over worry that she had.

She was ready to start the week anew.

"Hey Amy!"

"Hey, Cream!"

"How was your weekend?"

"It was good actually."

"Well I went out with Tails and we found this cute restaurant that sells sandwiches in the shapes of cute characters. After we asijopasfjoapsid…"

Blah Blah Blah. That was all she heard lately. Whenever her friends spoke, all that came out was bragging and more bragging.

They did ask her about herself but that was once in a blue moon. And once she answered that was it. They would reply with a novel of a story about their own lives.

It was like none of them noticed how alone she felt lately. She didn't expect them to. They were always busy with their boyfriends.

"Amy! Hey!"

Rouge waved at her, hand in hand with Knuckles.

Amy waved back.

"You're a little late Amy. Secret rendezvous with someone we should know about? Shadow perhaps?", Blaze teased.

Amy restrained herself from groaning in annoyance. It was times like this that made her remember how unhappy she was slowly becoming.

Not only did she have to deal with her friends and their boyfriends but lately they constantly teased her about Shadow when she didn't even like him.

He started hanging around them a lot more and they would always pair them together.

Like in the dream…

Amy shook her head. No, she wouldn't think of the dream. She was SO over that dream!

The class got restless waiting for their teacher. She was definitely late.

Amy sat there doodling in her notebook while her friends conversed with their boyfriends who ALWAYS sat next to them.

It was a shame that she got so used to being by herself.

"Goodmorning class!"

Everyone looked up and sat properly in their seats.

"Sorry I'm running a little late. I was just acquainting myself with our newest student who will be joining our class."

The teacher signaled for the student to come in.

"Now I want you all to be nice and welcoming. I'm sure I can count on you all to show our student around and teach him the ropes."

She was frozen. Her skin prickled and to her horror, goose bumps broke out all over her arms. She felt cold…so very cold.

Her hands trembled, her heart punched her chest, and she even felt like she would vomit.

His color was...navy.

His clothes were...black.

His eyes...

"This is Sonic the Hedgehog."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! <strong>

**This is a brand new story! However, I had initially written it months ago with the intention to post it as a oneshot. **

**I always had this saved as a document and didn't want to waste the material. I had written so much that it was hard to just scrap it all so I waited until I had a solid idea to possibly extend it.**

**This will not be a full length story. It will be a much shorter story, though I do not want to label how many chapters I think it will be as yet. I know it won't exceed 10 chapters. (School will begin again soon and I just KNOW that I won't have a lot of free time).**

**As for the story itself, the content is something I've always wanted to try and it is quite new to me. I just hope I make sense XD!**

**I'm also excited to be back in partial business with something new!**

**Read, Review, & Stay tuned!**


	2. Reality

She panicked.

"May I please go the bathroom? It's an emergency."

"Yes, yes Amy you may go."

Amy knew she was trembling and she didn't care who was looking at her. However, as she passed the new student she was troubled to see a ghost of a smirk on his face.

* * *

><p>She stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes. She was trying to make sense of everything before she officially panicked.<p>

She had a dream. In the dream there was A Sonic the Hedgehog. The Sonic in the dream was dead and he was a ghost. He was also a…

NO! That was just a dream!

It was just a coincidence that he had the same navy blue color and it was just a coincidence that he smirked the same way.

Besides, if she could recall…this Sonic actually had GREEN eyes. He didn't have RED glowing orbs like in the dream so HA!

It was all just some big coincidence! Yes, that was what she was going with. Ghosts and all that shit weren't real anyway. How could she even believe for a second that somehow her dream had come to life?

Amy laughed it off.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She had been stressed out lately. Maybe she was just going a little crazy.

Amy finally walked out of the bathroom and went back into the classroom.

"Are you alright Amy? You were out for quite a while."

"I'm ok now."

Amy took her seat.

"Pssst. Are you sure you're alright?"

Amy looked at Cream.

"Yeah, I just think maybe I'm coming down with something."

Amy had made the decision to focus on the lesson but then she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

She was being watched.

In the row to her right just one seat in front of hers, sat THIS Sonic.

He was blatantly staring at her…just like in the dream.

NO! IT WAS A COINCIDENCE!

Amy quickly looked away and scribbled something incoherent in her notebook.

For the rest of the period she kept her head down in her books. She used her ears to listen to the lesson, she didn't need to look up. No siree! She definitely didn't need to look up.

When the bell rang she sprinted out of class, not even waiting up for her friends. They wouldn't have cared anyway. They had their boyfriends to walk with to a class just down the hall.

Amy decided to hide until passing was over. So what if she showed up to class late?

She walked to the one place where she knew not many people passed by.

"Rose."

"Shadow."

"What brings you here?"

"None of your business."

"I see."

A couple of Shadow's "friends" snickered at their exchange. Amy merely crossed her arms and stuck her nose proudly into the air. They weren't intimidating her.

The bastards actually had the audacity to smoke when she was right there AND on school grounds.

She coughed.

"Don't you ever go to class?", she asked.

"That's none of your business."

"Hn, I see."

Amy sighed a breath of relief when she heard the bell ring once more. She could finally leave the stinking stairway and go to class.

She didn't say a word, she simply just walked away.

However, she was being watched very intently as she went.

* * *

><p>"Amy how nice of you to join us…LATE! Take a seat."<p>

She couldn't deny that she felt really embarrassed being scolded in front of the whole class but she would take it if that meant she could get away from…

NO! SOMEONE TOOK HER SEAT!

And naturally her friends didn't save it for her...

Somehow she wasn't shocked. It was becoming of them lately.

She quickly searched for an empty seat.

Then she saw it.

There WAS an empty seat AND he was staring at her AGAIN.

"Hurry up Amy you're disrupting the lesson, there's a seat next to the new kid."

"NO!"

Amy gasped and then crushed both of her hands against her mouth. She really hadn't meant to say that!

Then she saw it.

He was smirking!

Just like-

"Excuse me Ms. Rose?"

"I-I'm so sorry!"

The teacher looked at her for a few seconds. She bowed her head in remorse.

"I'll let it slide this time. Just take a seat."

Having had enough embarrassment for one day, Amy sucked up her feelings and grudgingly took the empty seat.

She instantly felt…cold.

She didn't dare ask to go to the bathroom either after how much trouble she was causing already.

He continued to stare at her, unblinking. He didn't say anything. He just kept looking at her.

The only thing that kept Amy at bay was the fact that these eyes were GREEN.

With that in mind, she had successfully focused on the lesson for at least half of the class and understood it well.

"Alright, I'd like you all to partner up with the person next to you and complete the worksheet I'm giving out."

Amy turned as fast as lightening to the person next to her that WASN'T blue. Unfortunately, that person was even faster than her.

This wouldn't have even happened to her if her friends had just saved a seat for her.

This wouldn't have even happened if she had to come to class late.

This wouldn't have even happened if there wasn't a NEW STUDENT!

Then she saw it; The smirk…AGAIN.

"Hey, my name is-"

"I know what your name is!"

Then she froze. He spoke. His voice was so…similar.

"Wow, I'd say you look like you've seen a ghost."

NO!

It was all a coincidence!

So why was she trembling?

"Here's your worksheet."

"T-Thank you."

"You all may move your desks closer together if you need to. Just remember to put them back when the period is over."

NO!

I DON'T WANT TO MOVE CLOSER!

Amy watched in horror as this Sonic moved his desk closer to hers.

She couldn't even yell so she took a deep breath in and then out.

"It's not like I'm going to kill you or anything. The teacher said to move closer."

She glared at him venomously.

He laughed.

Why was he acting so…similar.

"You're interesting to look at. It's almost like I can read your mind by just watching you."

"Well you can't, so just shut up! We have work to do."

He smirked and she swore she would rip it off.

She didn't say a word to him and surprisingly he cooperated with her silence. He did the work and he did it correctly.

"Looks like we finished before everyone else."

"..."

"I guess that gives us time to talk."

"I don't want to talk to you."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't WANT to."

"What did I do to you?"

"Everything."

"Wow, that sounds like a lot."

Amy wanted to choke herself for actually cracking a smile.

This wasn't a funny situation.

"Was that a smile?"

She looked at him. He was smiling too. She had to admit that a smile looked better on him than that stupid smirk.

She rolled her eyes and read her worksheet as if she didn't already do that ten times already. She just needed something to do. The period was taking so long to end. She just wanted to get out!

But if it was all just a coincidence, then maybe she had no reason to be so petrified.

The dream WASN'T real. Those things DON'T exist. THIS Sonic had GREEN eyes.

The more she chanted that to herself, the calmer she became but she still didn't feel comfortable around him.

"I'd like to see that smile more. It's beautiful."

WHAT? WAS HE SOME CASANOVA?

No one had ever told her something like that before, not even her parents.

Sometimes she even doubted that she was attractive at all because boys were never interested in her. She never had a boyfriend and there were times when she went through a list of reasons why. At the top of the list was UGLY.

As much as Amy wanted to say thank you and to let this Sonic know how…different he made her feel by just saying that, she stayed silent.

When the bell finally rang, Amy almost cheered. It couldn't have went off at a better time.

She sprinted once more out of the classroom.

They had gym next and she wouldn't have to see this Sonic because gym class was separated by gender.

X

* * *

><p>She was all smiles as she went to the locker room.<p>

"Amy, you're acting weird."

"I'm not acting weird. Cream already asked what was going on and I was just feeling a little sick."

"You think we didn't notice that new kid staring at you? I think that's why you're acting the way you are. YOU LIKE HIM!"

Now Amy wasn't usually an angry, violent person but sometimes her friends brought it out of her.

They had NO idea and she wouldn't dare explain anything to them. Either they would cut her off with their own stories or they wouldn't believe her.

She definitely did NOT like the "new kid". Why did they always pair her up with just anyone? Why did they always think she liked any guy she ever came in contact with? Did they know her at all?

"I don't like him Rouge."

"Well then he definitely likes you! Even Knuckles admitted that he was staring at you a little too hard."

People just didn't like people by seeing them alone; people gradually liked each other and then fell in love.

Amy shook her head and ignored her friends' chatter. She finished getting dressed and waited for them.

She was in a room full of girls and yet she sat there silent while everyone else around her spoke.

"Alright Amy, let's go!"

Amy wordlessly got up from the bench and followed the girls into the gym.

Immediately a whistle was blown.

"Listen up ladies! The boys will be joining our class today because their teacher has to do a coverage. That's no excuse for you to disobey OUR rules! Get on your floor spots!"

Some girls were whispering and some were giggling. Her friends were amongst the group giggling.

She did neither. She was frozen and torn between running out and staying right where her feet were planted.

Just what force was working against her? Why was everything becoming so inconvenient? She expected things like this to happen in books and movies but in real life?

"ROSE! ON YOUR FLOOR SPOT!"

Amy was shaken out of her thoughts by the loud voice of her teacher. She wasn't embarrassed this time because their gym teacher always yelled like that at everyone.

Then she saw it.

He smiled at her.

Amy wanted to kick herself for looking at him. Her eyes betrayed her!

She blinked hard and jogged over to her floor spot.

Their gym teacher had the boys lined up against the long wall while she took attendance for the girls on their floor spots.

"HEY SHADOW! YOU'RE IN CLASS!"

Amy turned around and watched as Shadow entered the gym. He was actually dressed in the gym uniform.

"ROUGE! You know the rules! Don't act silly!"

Amy felt like a jerk but she actually bit her lips in attempt to hold back a smile.

Almost subconsciously, her eyes met his again. Of course he was looking at her and this time he was smirking.

So did he see her trying to hold back her smile? Did he think it was funny too?

Amy wanted to slap herself. Could she really understand him already by just his smiles and smirks?

Just as she was about to look away, Shadow caught her eye.

His face looked so vicious all of a sudden. She had never seen him so angry.

Then she saw it.

His eyes were GLOWING red as he stormed towards the end of the line.

Then she saw it. She swore on everything that she saw it.

THIS Sonic…his eyes!

They were ALSO GLOWING red.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion right before her eyes.

She felt so cold.

Shadow's hand caught Sonic's neck in a violent hold and pushed him against the wall. The muscles on his arm flexed and tightened as he bared his teeth. How was he holding him with just one arm?

Sonic kicked and thrashed around and then she saw it.

He,too, bared his teeth and they started to look…sharp.

He growled and brought his head down and the next thing she saw, blood was dripping down Shadow's neck.

Then time seemed to speed up. The gym teacher ran over to the hedgehogs and tackled Shadow to the floor. She restrained him while she asked a few other boys to restrain Sonic.

The girls knew better than to get up so they ALL watched from their floor spots.

Amy, however, felt compelled by the events that unfolded in front of her. She definitely could not just sit and go along with class like she had not just seen what she saw.

Impulse was driving her at this point. Just the thought that it WASN'T a coincidence had flooded Amy's mind with visions…visions of the dream.

WHY COULDN'T SHE FORGET THE DAMN DREAM! IT WAS HAUNTING HER!

For all she knew, what she saw was completely real and THIS Sonic was actually that THING!

Amy sprinted over to the fight.

"Amy! Come back!"

She didn't listen. She continued to run.

"ROSE! GET BACK ON YOUR FLOOR SPOT!"

She didn't listen. She looked down at Shadow who continued to struggle. His blood dripped from his neck and on to the floor. To a little of her relief, she didn't see teeth punctures in his neck.

Then she raced over to where a group of boys were restraining Sonic. Among these boys were Knuckles and Silver.

"Chill man!", Knuckles yelled.

Silver didn't' say anything, he just tried with all his might to restrain the blue hedgehog.

Then Amy looked at him and to a little more of her relief, she saw that he had green eyes again. Maybe she was imagining things.

But why where they fighting? Why had Shadow decided to finally show up to class? And why did he attack Sonic so suddenly? Did they know each other? Because Sonic attacked him back with the same amount of viciousness.

She caught his gaze and almost instantly he stopped struggling when he saw her.

He looked at her and to her shock and horror, he smiled.

She wasn't stupid and she definitely was NOT going to turn blind eye to THIS.

"ROSE! GET AWAY! SECURITY!", her teacher yelled.

She was behaving so impulsively.

"Listen, I NEED to talk to you."

She was almost frantic.

"Now isn't the time."

She flinched. He didn't speak much so when he actually did, it startled her and reminded her of the dream.

Before either hedgehog could speak again, the school's security came rushing in and roughly escorted Sonic and Shadow out of the gym.

"ROSE! You deliberately disobeyed rules and procedures. WE HAVE THEM FOR A REASON! You could have been hurt! I'm going to have to ask you to go to the dean's office."

Amy knew this was coming.

At the start she was embarrassed and disappointed but she got in trouble so many times today that the embarrassment part of it was wearing off.

She knew all eyes were on her and that she was creating quite a name for herself today but she just didn't care. There were much bigger things that she had to worry about, like the possibility that everything she had ever known was a lie.

X

* * *

><p>"Ms. Rose it's quite shocking to see you here!"<p>

"I'm shocked to BE here sir."

"I had gotten a notice from your gym teacher that you ignored rules and procedures. That doesn't sound like you."

"No sir, it doesn't."

"So tell me what happened. I'm all ears."

"I…T-There's no explanation. I should have listened."

It was silent.

Amy looked at her folded hands on her lap while the dean looked at her.

She couldn't tell him exactly WHY she had defied the rules. They would all think she was crazy if she just came out with it. She needed to figure it out for herself first.

She made up her mind to accept punishment on behalf of it all.

"I understand that you don't want to talk about it. However, if you tell me it's more likely that I can have the situation sorted out and you won't have to be punished. I know you wouldn't do something like this on purpose Ms. Rose."

She really didn't WANT to get in trouble. Her hands balled up into fists and before she knew it, tears were starting to fall from her eyes.

It was so much to deal with in just a few hours and it was all because of HIM!

"Ms. Rose, something is troubling you. Tell me…"

His voice was gentle and she almost, ALMOST, felt like she would tell it all to him. But then she saw the visions again.

She swore she saw correctly.

He looked like he did in the dream. She saw the unmistakable glow of RED eyes and the darkness seem to radiate off of him just like how the clouds of black fog rolled off of him in the dream. And not only him, but Shadow's eyes were glowing red too.

Did that mean…

Amy's heart palpitated.

"Ms. Rose, are you alright?"

_The more Amy looked at the thing, the more it looked familiar._

_"S-Shadow?"_

_The thing's expression changed and its eyes seemed to glow even more venomously. The fog seemed to roll off in even thicker clouds._

_The skin prickling feeling started to come back._

_"STOP! I'M SORRY!", she screamed once more._

IT knew Shadow somehow.

Shadow knew Sonic somehow.

The more she pieced it together, the more frightened she became.

Warm tears fell down her eyes.

She couldn't deny it anymore and it scared her to bits and pieces.

It all just WASN'T a coincidence anymore.

And that scared her. It scared her more than anyone could imagine.

However, she STILL needed answers. She needed to know what was true.

"Ms. Rose?"

"Y-Yes sir?"

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"I don't want to…"

The dean sighed.

"It would help your cause Ms. Rose."

"I…can't."

She continued to cry.

So quickly her life was turning upside down.

"I'm afraid I have to find a suitable punishment for you then. You deliberately broke the rules. I'm sorry but I can't let that slide. I'd be setting the wrong example for all of the other students."

Amy nodded in acceptance.

The dean sighed again. He probably really didn't want to punish her and knew she didn't do it with bad intentions.

"You'll have to attend detention after school."

"Y-Yes sir."

"If you ever want to talk about what really happened then my office is open Ms. Rose. You are dismissed."

Amy left the office, still in tears. He was going to call her parents, she just knew it.

How was she going to explain it to them? Would she just have to accept another unwarranted punishment?

Amy skipped her next class. She was already in trouble anyway. She stayed in a bathroom stall and cried her eyes out.

A few girls had come into the bathroom but she simply quieted herself until they left.

* * *

><p>Lunch time came around and Amy skipped that too. She didn't want to face anyone that she knew, her friends especially.<p>

They had all seen EVERYTHING and she didn't want to explain to them. This was HER issue. They wouldn't understand.

Amy snuck around to find a vending machine and purchased a bag of pretzels and a bottle of apple juice.

She wandered the empty hallways and found her way to THE staircase.

"Look, it's Shadow's girlfriend."

She didn't say anything that would entertain them. She just wanted a secluded place to eat her "lunch" and yet not feel so alone, or else should become a slave to her thoughts. She didn't want to have another crying episode either.

Who would have thought that she would seek the company of the class skipping potheads? Hell, perhaps she was one of them now.

She sat down on one of the stairs and opened up her bag of pretzels.

"Your boyfriend isn't here sweetie."

"Yeah, he's being held captive by the bitches of this school."

Amy crunched on her pretzels.

"I told him going to class was a bad idea but nooo he didn't listen to me. For some reason, when he caught wind that the gym classes were going to be mixed today he decided it was finally time to go to class."

"And we know why sweetheart."

The two potheads snickered.

"The bastard tries to act hard but he likes you."

Amy choked. The pretzel went down the wrong throat.

The potheads snickered again.

She frantically opened her apple juice and guzzled it down.

She coughed a bit to contain herself and then finally she was alright.

"He only ever tolerates you and that Rouge chick but she had a boyfriend when they became friends."

"Besides, I'm sure they already fucked. That girl is one of the biggest sluts this school has to offer. You'd be surprised to know how many guys she's messed with. Her boyfriend must be a gullible idiot. How Shadow tolerates her? We'll never know."

Amy couldn't help but feel defensive for her friend. Even though they hadn't been the best to her lately, they were still people she grew up with. As far as she knew, Rouge was always with Knuckles and ONLY liked him.

Was what these guys were saying true?

"But you're different honey. He ALLOWS you to park your ass here whenever you want. He ALLOWS the slut to keep putting you two together. He ALLOWS us to keep cracking jokes about you guys being boyfriend and girlfriend. He ALLOWS you to talk to him the way you do."

"Key word, ALLOWS. He wouldn't do it for anyone else, not even the Rouge girl. She would never come around here because he sent her away and he definitely wouldn't go to class for her."

Amy felt churning in her stomach. She just wasn't digesting properly anymore.

Her mind was literally spinning and she felt light headed.

Shadow liked her? That just WASN'T possible. He always acted like he hated her!

Sure they were always paired off whenever he hung out with all of them but that never meant anything!

They never even had a proper conversation! He couldn't like her!

They were all lying!

"But you see why he shouldn't go to class? He ALREADY got into a fight and with some new kid."

"He probably just wanted to punch his lights out because he felt like it. He used to be like that."

"Until he started hanging around PRINCESS that is."

NO, NO, NO!

Amy got up from the stairs and stormed away from the smoky staircase.

"BYE BABE! YOU'RE WELCOMED ANYTIME!"

X

* * *

><p>She really didn't want to go to class and seriously considered skipping the rest of the day but she realized that she was already in skin deep. She didn't need to make it worse.<p>

On the bright side, she didn't have to see Shadow or Sonic because they were most likely in trouble for the rest of the day.

BUT, she STILL had detention. She STILL had to face her parents after that and she STILL had to face those two at some time.

Amy felt like crying again. She had never cried so much in one day. She never had to deal with so much confusion either.

She WAS going to skip her next classes but this time she would go to the nurse.

When she arrived at the nurses office she explained that she felt dizzy, sick, and like she was going to vomit. It was all true anyway.

"Are you sure you don't want to call home?"

"No, I have detention after school so I just want to get it out of the way. I was hoping I could try to make myself feel better before I go."

"Well, alright. If it gets any worse than I'd have to advise you to call home. For now let me check you up."

Amy sat on the bed. She fidgeted a bit as she tried to get used to the crinkled paper.

"Did you eat breakfast this morning Amy?"

"Yes."

The nurse took her stethoscope and asked Amy to breathe in and out.

"Did you have lunch?"

"Well…not really."

"Ahh, I see."

The nurse checked Amy's blood pressure and then took her temperature.

"Everything seems to be in normal order. I'll go get you a fresh sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of water. I want you to finish as much of it as you can and then you can rest for a bit ok?"

Amy nodded with a small smile.

The nurse was still as nice as she remembered. At least here she could relax her mind and maybe even sleep for a little while…anything to get away from this.

When the nurse left, Amy laid back and stared at the white ceiling.

Slowly but surely her eyes blinked lazily and slowly.

Perhaps she was more exhausted than she wanted to admit. THE WHOLE DAY WAS MENTALLY EXHAUSTING!

Amy curled up on her side and pulled a blanket on top of herself.

She was lulled to sleep by the chirping birds and the thought that for just an hour or two, she could escape this horror.

* * *

><p>"Oh Amy, you're finally awake!"<p>

Amy, strangely enough, felt rested and very refreshed.

"When I came back, you were already sleeping. I still have lunch for you if you want it. You have a few minutes to eat before you have to go to detention."

The nurse brought over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a red apple and a bottle of water. She started to talk about how peanut butter was packed with protein and that the sandwich would give her energy without being too heavy on her stomach.

Amy WAS hearing her but she just wasn't listening. She was too preoccupied with everything that had to do with the day.

She just might have to see a psychologist if all of this persisted. She wasn't exaggerating when she thought that she was going insane.

When she was done with the lunch that the nurse had so kindly gotten for her, she thanked and accepted a hug from the kind lady.

She shut the door and was off to the detention room.

From common knowledge, she knew where the detention room was so her feet subconsciously took her there.

She never thought she would see the day when she would have detention with all of the true delinquents of the school.

She had to admit that she was nervous when her hand was on the knob but it was now or never.

"Sign your name."

Wow, they were even treating her like a delinquent.

Without looking around, Amy looked for her name on the sign in sheet and then signed her name.

Then she saw it.

Oh God no…

On the roster she saw the names, Shadow the Hedgehog AND Sonic the Hedgehog.

Amy didn't want to turn around.

"Have a seat."

This teacher meant business and she was in no position to earn any more punishments.

She kept her head low as she turned around. There was never a full class of people for detention so she knew she probably had options as to where she wanted to sit.

She looked at the floor to see whether seats were empty or not. There were actually ALOT of empty seats

Perhaps the teacher had spaced everyone out and didn't allow certain students to sit in the back.

She finally found a seat in the very back of the room and sighed.

She looked up to see that there were only very of them in the classroom.

Two students were sitting on opposite ends of the first horizontal row.

The next two students were familiar.

The potheads got caught huh? They were seated on opposite ends of the third horizontal row.

Amy was seated in the middle of the last row so that must have meant…

Amy looked down and saw shoes at both ends of HER horizontal row.

"Young lady, you have an essay to write. We don't just sit here twiddling our thumbs. The topic is on the board."

Amy was a bit shaken up. She didn't need to be treated this way! She didn't even deserve this!

She looked at the topic on the board. She was to write a persuasive essay in which she chose a side in enforcing or prohibiting school uniforms. It had to be 5 paragraphs with no less than 6 sentences per paragraph. If it wasn't finished then you were granted another detention where you would have to finish that essay in addition to another essay.

Amy groaned.

She would get in trouble at home after this too.

It just didn't end. WHEN WOULD IT END?

Then suddenly she felt a chill that made her twitch.

She didn't dare let her eyes wander. She would NOT look.

She started her essay and she was a paragraph in when the chill seemed to run up her arms and down her spine.

She looked up and wondered if someone opened a window but deep down she knew it wasn't the damn window.

She ground her teeth to keep herself from growling.

WHY COULDN'T EVERYONE LEAVE HER ALONE! SHE NEVER ASKED FOR ANY OF THIS!

She had gotten two more paragraphs done until her attention was caught by one of the potheads. They were raising their hand.

"Yes."

"Can I take a leak?"

"No."

"Well I'll be!"

Amy bit her lips. She actually wanted to laugh. Those two weren't SOOOO bad. They were probably just misunderstood.

Then Amy was suddenly conscious of herself.

_"I'd like to see that smile more. It's beautiful."_

She peeked to her left.

Those green eyes were locked on to her and those lips were upturned.

Then Amy looked to her right and there was an opposite expression.

Amy felt the chill all over again. Shadow looked venomous. She had never seen him look so...piercing before. However, the glare wasn't aimed at her. It was aimed at the opposite end.

"_The bastard tries to act hard but he likes you."_

She looked at Sonic again.

"_You think we didn't notice that new kid staring at you? I think that's why you're acting the way you are. YOU LIKE HIM!"_

"_I don't like him Rouge."_

"_Well then he definitely likes you! Even Knuckles admitted that he was staring at you a little too hard."_

She turned her attention back to the more than half written essay on her desk.

_"Key word, ALLOWS. He wouldn't do it for anyone else, not even the Rouge girl. She would never come around here because he sent her away and he definitely wouldn't go to class for her."_

"_But you see why he shouldn't go to class? He ALREADY got into a fight and with some new kid."_

"_He probably just wanted to punch his lights out because he felt like it. He used to be like that."_

"_Until he started hanging around PRINCESS that is."_

The air was VERY uncomfortable. Amy aimed to just finish up her essay.

She didn't want to internalize ANYTHING. It was TOO much to process and make sense of. She already had a pounding headache.

She was on her last paragraph when she saw, more like heard, Shadow storm to the front of the classroom.

He, disrespectfully, slammed his loose-leaf paper on the teacher's desk and raged out of the room. He made a show of slamming the door.

Amy flinched at the sound.

It didn't take a genius to know that he was angry.

She looked on her left again and saw a proud smirk on the face of the blue hedgehog.

He thought it was funny?

How could he just smile? He was doing a lot of that all day. Except in gym…

It was HIS fault she was in here anyway! He was already tearing her life apart in record time!

She STILL wanted to know what the connection between the two hedgehogs was.

She knew there were ALOT of answers that she needed to understand anything. And she knew one thing for SURE. The dream wasn't as irrelevant as she once thought.

The more she started to accept that, the more terrified she became.

She physically jumped when she saw the blue hedgehog, out of the corner of her eye, get up and walk to the front of the room. He placed his loose-leaf paper on the desk and walked out quietly.

She was also done with her essay but she definitely wouldn't leave and possibly cross paths with him. She wanted answers but right now, she was too frightened.

"Excuse me, I have a phone call to take. NO TALKING!"

Amy watched as the teacher, whom she was beginning to dislike, walked out of the classroom and closed the door behind him.

Immediately the potheads turned around.

"Psst! Talk about sexual tension! Didn't you feel it sweetheart?"

What the HELL were they talking about now?

"You don't have to talk, we know you're a goody goody so you can just listen to us because not speaking for an hour really hurts."

"But how about Shadow though? Man I've never seen him that steamed. I honestly don't know what the fuck he's mad about this time."

"It's probably the new kid. He looks rough around the edges but he's a little pretty."

"Dude! I can't believe you just said that!"

"What? I can't be honest?"

"Are you saying he's a threat to Shadow?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. The kid was making googly eyes at princess here and we all know the king doesn't like to be overthrown!"

"You know what? That actually makes sense! Which one do YOU like princess?"

"Can you both just leave me alone."

"Come to think of it, why IS princess here?"

"I wanted to ask the moment her cute, innocent ass walked in here."

Amy rolled her eyes but she still felt her cheeks getting warm. It wasn't every day that someone gave her a compliment, even one as twisted as this.

"What are you in for princess?"

"It's none of your business."

"I SAID NO TALKING!"

Amy rolled her eyes again. She was SO DONE!

She got up with her loose-leaf paper and handed it to the teacher. Then she stuck her tongue out to the potheads on her way out the door. She had finished her first ever detention.

X

* * *

><p>Amy's bus ride home had not been the best. She KNEW what was waiting for her at home. It was one thing after the next.<p>

Once Amy unlocked her home door and stepped inside, she was met with the sight of her parents.

"Where were you Amy?"

Amy didn't get the chance to put her stuff down or even put her jacket away.

"I-I…"

"ANSWER ME YOUNG LADY!"

"Just calm down Elizabeth. There has to be a good reason for this. You know Amy isn't a trouble maker."

"STAY OUT OF THIS JOSEPH!"

Amy felt the tears in her eyes. Mentally she kept trying to prepare herself for this but it didn't help.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time Amy. Where were you?"

"I…was in detention."

"I got a call from the dean earlier. You ignored rules and procedures? Why would you do that?"

"I-I'm sorry."

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?"

Her mother wasn't one to raise her voice often but when she did, it never failed to make Amy cry. She always wished she was stronger than that.

"I'm sorry."

"Are you not going to answer me? I just want to understand how this happened."

She just couldn't. It was the same situation with the dean. She really couldn't explain and something told her that she couldn't go around making accusations about something believed to be so false. But was it really false?

"I-I'm sorry mom."

"Alright Amy. I don't know who you take me for but I am your MOTHER and when I ask you a question I EXPECT you to answer me. So if you have made the decision to defy me then GO TO YOUR ROOM! I'll figure out what to do with you later!"

Amy took it all in. She ran up the stairs and locked herself in her room.

She cried so much that she was surprised she even had tears left.

The day was the definition of disaster. It was, by far, the worst day of her life.

She didn't want this to be real!

Suddenly she heard her mother's shouting and she jumped when she heard a loud noise.

_Her mother's shouting reached her ears and she jumped when she heard a loud noise. It was probably her father taking his anger out on something again._

Her heart pounded and she was finding it harder to breathe comfortably.

What was going on?

In fact, the more she thought about it…the more this day was becoming like the dream.

_"So where were you?", her mother asked._

_Silence._

_"ANSWER ME YOUNG LADY!"_

_Amy felt the tears already building up._

_"Just calm down Elizabeth."_

_"Calm down? DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME SHIT ABOUT HOW TO HANDLE THIS JOSEPH! Maybe if you didn't spend the whole friggin night drinking yourself to sleep she wouldn't have gotten away with this so easily."_

_"WHO THE HELL DO YOU TAKE ME FOR? I understand if you take your father for a fool, but I am NOT him! GO TO YOUR ROOM AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN! THEN I'LL FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH YOU!"_

As soon as Amy thought about her breathing, she realized that she couldn't catch her breath.

_As soon as she focused her attention on her breathing, she quickly came to the realization that it was actually hard to get a grip._

It made her panic and so it got worse.

_Amy just COULDN'T get a grip. She started to panic, causing her to start gasping._

She didn't waste any time. She ran down the stairs and into the living room. If she was paying attention, she would have seen the broken glass by the kitchen wall but she was panicking and flailed her arms in attempt to get help.

_She started flailing her arms in even more panic. She seriously couldn't breathe! She needed help!_

"AMY? OH MY GOD! JOSEPH!"

"I'M CALLING THE AMBULANCE!"

She gasped one last time before her head felt light and she slumped in her mother's arms.

_She gasped one last time before she fell back. Just before her eyes closed, her blurry vision focused on the words on the gravestone that she fell in front of._

_Sonic the Hedgehog_

_Beloved Husband_

Sonic the Hedgehog...

Why did she have the feeling that he had EVERYTHING to do with this.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: This might just be my quickest update ever? lol<strong>

**Thank you to those who have reviewed! I missed you guys! :D**

**Also, thank you to those who have read! ;D**

**Like I said before, this genre is a bit of a challenge for me especially since it was supposed to be a oneshot. So bare with me if it's a little fuzzy and confusing for now *crosses fingers***


	3. Crossroad

She was conscious but she just knew she wouldn't be able to open her eyes as yet because the shine of the light would surely blind her.

She also knew that just by the smell and voices, she was in the hospital.

The beeping of a monitor was a dead giveaway as well.

"Doctor, when is she going to wake up?"

That was her mom. She sounded so…distressed.

"She should be up soon. We get a few cases of this every now and then. Patients usually wake up within a few hours."

"But what if she doesn't? What if she-"

"Mom? I'm up."

Her voice was very hoarse and she still didn't feel strong enough to open her eyes, but she just HAD to let her mom know she was ok.

"Is it too bright?"

Amy nodded her head.

In about a minute, she knew the doctor dimmed the lights because she saw it from the backs of her eyelids.

She slowly lifted her lids and adjusted to the room. The first person she saw was her mother.

She was sitting at her bedside with a bottle of water in her hands.

"Amy, I was so worried."

Her mother definitely wasn't lying. Just the sight of her was enough to tell that she was worrying far more than her voice let on.

Her quills looked like they had been raked through thousands of times, the bags under her eyes were puffy as if she were crying for a while, and her face was pale.

It was hard to see her mother like that. She was usually so strong.

"I'm sorry."

Amy's voice was hoarse when she spoke.

"I know something's wrong Amy. Why won't you talk to me?"

Amy closed her eyes again. It hurt her to keep something like this to herself but somehow she just KNEW she couldn't tell anyone.

She knew how these things worked. You tell someone, they think you're crazy, and then when they ask you to prove it…you can't.

How was she supposed to prove that she saw two students at her school with glowing red eyes? How could she explain that she had a dream a week ago that was coming true?

It would just cause unnecessary havoc. She wasn't in any immediate danger.

If it was even POSSIBLE that Shadow and Sonic were THAT…then they hadn't done anything to her yet.

_"The bastard tries to act hard but he likes you."_

_"I'd like to see that smile more. It's beautiful."_

Amy shut her eyes even tighter.

"Amy? Are you alright? Should I get someone?"

Amy slowly opened her eyes.

"I'm fine mom, I promise."

Her mom sighed.

Come to think of it, where was her dad?

What had happened while she was in her room? Why were her parents fighting, and what was that crash she heard?

"Your father was here earlier but he had to go to work."

Amy didn't like the tone in her mother's voice. She was bitter about something, Amy was no fool.

It was probably the fight that occurred. They didn't fight very often and she couldn't help feeling like it was her fault.

"The doctor said that you'll be released right after they check you up."

"Oh, ok."

Amy couldn't put a finger on what it was that she exactly felt but it was anything but happy. Lately, even before all this, she realized that she had not been as happy as she used to be.

NOW, she feared for her life.

Was everything a lie?

She felt like she could scream yet she stayed silent. She always stayed silent when she was begging to yell the most.

"Alright, Ms. Rose how are you feeling? Any dizziness? Shortness of breath?"

Amy looked up at the doctor. Suddenly she didn't appreciate his overload of questions.

"No, I'm fine. I'm just a little drowsy."

"That's not anything unusual."

He scribbled something in a small pad of paper.

"Have you ever had instances where you have experienced shortness of breath before?"

Amy shook her head.

"Did you have something to eat today?"

"I had breakfast and then I had a late lunch."

"How many hours of sleep would you say you slept the night before?"

Amy was getting irritated fast.

How was she supposed to know? She just wanted to go home and sleep. Sleeping made her forget.

"I think seven."

The doctor scribbled again.

"Your mom notified me that you have no history of asthma so it was quite a concern to have you unconscious because of a sudden panic attack."

"_We found your medical records through a partnering database and you didn't have a history with asthma so it was quite a shock to have you in here unconscious because of a sudden attack."_

"Amy? What's wrong? Are you ok?"

Amy turned to her mother. She was still very worried about her.

But this time she didn't blame her.

Something was wrong…VERY wrong.

Suddenly Amy felt very nauseous. At first she felt a spike in her stomach and then quickly felt it in her throat.

She made a sign that she was about to throw up and she swore she had never seen a doctor move so fast.

He practically got a medical baggie out of thin air.

She grabbed it from him and dry heaved. However, nothing came out.

"These may just be side effects from all of the stress that you have been under. I would suggest keeping you overnight just to make sure that there isn't a high probability of this occurring again."

Stress huh? It was so much more than that.

The doctor looked at her mother. Then her mother looked at her.

"I think you should stay Amy. This hasn't ever happened to you before and I want to make sure you're alright. I don't know what I'd do if this happened again."

Amy wanted to be angry but the moment she looked at her mother's face, she felt sorry.

Maybe she really DID need to stay.

She had to admit that even SHE was worried. It was such a scary feeling being alone and suddenly not being able to breathe.

"Fine."

"Alrighty then, I'll arrange the necessary accommodations for your overnight stay. Excuse me for a moment."

As the doctor walked out of the room once again, Amy's mother took her hand.

"Honey, I love you."

Did her mom think it was her fault?

Amy felt the tears burning her dry eyes.

"I love you too mom."

"After the doctor looks at you, I'm going to go home, get a few things, and then come back ok?"

"But how are you going to get there if Dad went to work?"

Amy paid much attention to the look on her mother's face. Her mouth was set in a firm, hard line and her eyes narrowed with tension.

Suddenly she felt sheepish for asking. It was obvious now that there was conflict between her parents. Her mom was just trying to pretend that everything was alright.

Why did her father leave anyway?

"I'll call a taxi."

Right on time, the doctor came back in the room.

"Ok, everything is set and arranged for you. Feel free to use the television, buzz for food or beverages, or call for any assistance. I'll be checking you up now before I leave you to the nurses."

Amy sat through the checkup in silence, as did her mother.

"Everything is in normal order. I would suggest that you eat something nutritious soon AND get some rest. You'll be as good as new tomorrow. I'll also leave a doctor's note with you for when you decide to return to school. I would advise you to take tomorrow off. I would even suggest staying home the next day after but that will be up to you. I hope you feel better Ms. Rose."

The doctor exited once again.

"Tomorrow I'll take you home and then we'll discuss school later. Don't worry ok?"

Her mother smiled but it was easy to tell that it was forced…for her.

Regardless, Amy returned the smile with her own.

"I'll be right back, I promise. It will only take about fifteen minutes."

* * *

><p>Amy had used her time alone to eat and flip through some fashion magazines that were on the side table.<p>

She waited patiently for her mother to return and she was checked often by the nurses. They were actually nice and reminded her of the school nurse.

She didn't know what the doctor or her mother had told them but they seemed to be a little TOO concerned and attentive to her.

She wouldn't be surprised if she was being left in the dark about something.

Suddenly and unconsciously, Amy had pulled the covers way up to her neck. She had felt…colder.

She pressed a button on the arm of her bed.

"Yes, Ms. Rose?"

A nurse had promptly arrived.

"Umm, I'm sorry but can I have another blanket? It's a little cold."

"Hmm, really? We don't have the central air conditioning on at the moment. We like to turn it off in the night hours so our patients can get warm rest in this cold weather."

"Y-You don't?"

"Unless, someone turned it on I suppose. I'll go get you another blanket ok?"

The nurse smiled before she left.

Amy's heart began to race and she knew exactly why.

It was as if she was conditioned to feel fear at the sign of sudden chill.

It was coming to a point where she was about to scream for help. She felt insane…mentally insane.

The nurse returned in a timely manner with an even thicker blanket.

Amy wanted to yell for her to stay in the room but she didn't want to keep making demands.

She was screaming inside of her head but she never said a word. She watched as the nurse walked back out of the room and closed the door behind her.

Where was her mother? Why hadn't she come back yet?

She NEEDED someone!

Then she felt it.

It was a cold draft that made her shiver. She looked over at the window and it wasn't even slightly cracked. It was locked closed.

The nurse said the central air conditioning wasn't even on.

She had a second blanket wrapped around her.

She was shaking and she didn't know if it was from feeling cold or if it was from her nerves.

Amy made the conscious decision to just go to sleep. It would solve everything.

She turned off her side table lamp, leaving the rest of the room to be dimmed with faint light.

She pulled the covers way over her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

However, she laid there for about 5 minutes without feeling the least bit tired. Not to mention, she was shivering cold. Her teeth were even chattering.

She was chattering so loud that she couldn't even hear the window unlock.

When she turned around on her other side, the covers had slipped down and out of the corner of her eye she saw it.

She screamed.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Instantly like the speed of sound, HE was right by her bedside.

"PLEASE!"

Tears fell from her eyes as she held up her trembling hands.

An icy thumb lightly brushed under her eye.

She hadn't realized that she had closed her eyes tightly until she opened them and saw him.

The sight of him didn't make her feel any better either. Her body still shook. This was PROOF!

She covered her face with her hands and started to bawl. She refused to believe any of this.

"GO AWAY! GO AWAY!", she screamed.

"Cut it out already. I won't do anything to you."

Amy opened her eyes in shock and disbelief.

"HOW DARE YOU! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

She heard him sigh.

"You asked me earlier to talk."

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

"Just calm down! Please, I won't hurt you!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE! PLEASE! THIS SERIOUSLY CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"

"Amy, please-"

"DON'T SAY MY NAME! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! I DON'T KNOW YOU! YOU CAN'T EXIST! I'M INSANE!"

Amy turned the other way and pulled the covers over her head again.

She wouldn't take this anymore.

"I came here to see if you're alright and to explain whatever you wanted to know."

She wouldn't speak. Maybe he would just leave if she didn't respond to him.

"I'm not leaving until we talk."

Amy cringed and pulled her body into a tighter ball under the covers.

"What can I do to show you that you don't have to be THIS afraid?"

She said nothing.

"I don't want you to act like this every time I come around. If you give me a chance I can show you how-"

"GO AWAY!"

He had been so persistent and adamant to understand just why the fuck she was so afraid. It was so obvious!

"I'm an exchange student."

Silence.

She sat up and looked him straight in the eye.

"You're not serious. Do you REALLY think that explains EVERYTHING?"

He looked confused.

So she had to spell it out for him?

"Why do I always feel cold? How did you know Shadow? And why did he attack you? Why did I dream about you before even having met you? Why is the dream coming true!"

Silence.

He chuckled.

"How am I supposed to know why you always feel cold? Maybe you're anemic."

She saw THAT smirk and felt like she would reach up and strangle the blue hedgehog.

"Leave."

"I'm kidding! Well, not really but don't get so angry!"

"Then answer the questions!"

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me?"

"I DON'T! Just explain yourself before I call someone! I'm not going to take this anymore!"

"Has anyone ever told you how bossy you are?"

"No, because there isn't anyone who really knows me and that includes you."

"What about those girls?"

"It's none of your business!"

"So why is it your business to know so much about me?"

Amy was shocked.

This guy had a lot of nerve!

"I have a RIGHT to ask these questions! Why are you even here? If you can't answer me, then I'll go straight to the police!"

He smirked.

"The police aren't a threat to me Ames. But I do want you to give me a chance so I'll answer the questions."

"Ames? How did we get on nickname terms so quickly?"

That stupid smirk again…did he not take her seriously?

"Shadow and I went to the same school a few years ago and we were…really close. One day we got into a confrontation. It ended badly so we both ended up moving away and I suppose he moved here while I moved somewhere else. Recently, I decided to move here but I didn't expect to see him at all. I guess he still held a grudge after all these years."

Ok, so that made a LITTLE sense. She still wanted to know what they fought about but she supposed it was personal. BUT why did she see red? And what about the dream?

He wasn't being straight forward!

"But umm…I saw…I mean…both of you had umm…red eyes. Right now you have green eyes and Shadow's eyes were glowing."

Sonic laughed.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY! I'M SERIOUS!"

"Are you SURE that's what you saw?"

"YES! Don't make me out to be crazy!"

"Who knows, maybe you ARE going crazy?"

"No I'm not! I saw it with my own two eyes! And I saw it in my dream too!"

"You keep talking about this dream. What happened in it?"

"Because YOU were in it! You looked exactly the same and I saw your name on a gravestone! And today a lot of things have happened that was just like the dream."

"I've read that dreams are a way of storing the day's information. They can also be a reflection of past experiences, fears, or desires. There are many ways that you could have dreamt of someone that resembled me or had my name. Sonic isn't an uncommon word. Blue isn't an uncommon color."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

"Geeze, you can yell! You're not nearly this loud in school."

"I'll tell you right now, I'm not crazy."

"But wasn't it you a few minutes ago who just said 'I'm insane'?"

"_DON'T SAY MY NAME! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! I DON'T KNOW YOU! YOU CAN'T EXIST! I'M INSANE!"_

"I'm not kidding, answer the questions and explain yourself. This is the last time I'll say it before I actually do something."

"Ok, Ok…If it helps, I've been told that when I'm angry my eyes could almost be mistaken for red."

"But that's not even close to green! I'm not stupid!"

Sonic shrugged.

"You can take it or leave it. I don't know what you expect me to admit."

_That you're a-_

"After all, I'm frightened by you as well and you don't see me hiding under covers like YOU'RE a monster."

"WHAT?"

He smiled.

"What could YOU possibly be afraid of?"

"That temper, isn't it obvious? I would have never guessed that you could be so vicious."

Amy wished she hadn't reacted.

She actually smiled as much as she tried to mask it.

"Anyway…I'm not done. How did YOU of all people know that I was here? How did you get through the freaking window? Isn't that something to be AFRAID of?"

"After detention while I was driving home, I almost crashed because of an ambulance truck that swerved out of control. I wrote down the name of the hospital and decided to drop by to report a complaint. While I was waiting to speak to someone, I saw a nurse pass by with a folder that had your name on it. I decided to follow her since you were the first friend I made at school. I saw your room number and decided to sneak in later when it was late. And by the way, it's not hard to pick these window locks."

Silence.

"So…are you really telling me that you and Shadow were close friends a long time ago in another place, at another school? You had a big fight and you both moved. Shadow moved here while you moved somewhere else. You recently moved here and you didn't know Shadow was here. Shadow was still upset over the fight so he attacked you. You were both so angry that your eyes looked like they were glowing red or maybe I was just seeing things. The dream was just a whole big coincidence, I'm freaking myself out into feeling cold, and you have experience with picking locks?"

"Yes, you got it right."

"That sounds a bit WEIRD don't you think?"

"Who said everything in life had to make sense?"

"You wouldn't understand because YOU'RE not the one who has to internalize all of this!"

"I think you're looking too much into it. Would it have been better if I said I was a vampire or something?"

She stopped.

Was that what she really wanted him to say? Would everything make sense? Would it make her feel better?

If anything, had he actually admitted to that, she would feel even worse. It would crash her whole world to know that things like that truly existed.

"I guess not…"

He didn't say anything in response. It instantly felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Then what about your family?", Amy spoke.

"I don't have any family left so I take care of myself."

"Oh…I'm sorry I asked. It was none of my business. I'm sorry."

"No don't worry about it. I want to answer any questions you have so you can stop being a chicken."

"Wait…What? Don't call me a chicken! If you were me you would be the same way! I especially can't believe that the dream has no connection to right now. How could I have dreamed of someone who looked exactly like you, with the same name as you, who was-"

"Like I said, maybe something triggered that together. Do you think I had something to do with it?"

Silence.

What did she really think? The more Sonic explained things to her and questioned her, the more she was beginning to believe that maybe everything really WAS a coincidence.

He was easing her into her right mind where she KNEW nothing like that existed. Dreams didn't come true like that. Life was unexpected and random.

"Look, I really need you to leave for now. I-I need to think. I still think it's creepy that you snuck in here and came over to me so fast."

She heard Sonic sigh.

"This is going to be hard isn't it?"

"I don't know. Why are you trying so hard anyway?"

Silence.

Why WAS he trying so hard? It couldn't be because he LIKED her right? They just met. That would be impossible. No one liked her like that.

But she couldn't help thinking that maybe he was actually interested in her.

For once she was starting to understand what other girls like Rouge must have felt like when guys liked them.

It was...invigorating.

She was only sixteen years old and had yet to experience anyone truly liking her or pursing her as if she was special.

"Ok, I'll leave."

He came closer to her bedside and her cautious eyes automatically followed him.

Instantly, she was enthralled.

She didn't notice how shiny his eyes were before. They were so…beautiful.

"Get some rest, ok?"

Before she knew it, her eye lids felt heavy. She started blinking slowly.

"Goodnight Ames."

Very faintly she heard him before she finally closed her eyes and rolled over on her side.

She felt so comfortable and at ease. Everything felt so perfect.

* * *

><p>"Amy? Wake up. The doctor wants to see you."<p>

In all of her life, Amy could not remember waking up so refreshed.

Even though she felt like she could sleep for a couple more hours, she had not problems waking up now.

She felt so rejuvenated and even felt better than she had in weeks.

"Ah, goodmorning Ms. Rose!"

This doctor was still too peppy for her taste.

"Goodmorning."

It was just her, her mother, and the doctor in the room.

The natural light from the sun shined through the windows.

Windows…

She still remembered it all. She remembered every bit of last night.

Now that they got to sleep on it, she felt more…comfortable.

Perhaps she could actually believe what Sonic had said.

Sure he was a creep for trying to find her and breaking through windows of a hospital but for some strange reason, she wasn't worried about it. Something about Sonic's personality had struck her as sincere.

Amy stretched her muscles out and cracked a few stiff joints.

Even though she still didn't feel satisfied with Sonic and his explanation, she decided that she would just try and talk to him more at school.

She would feel him out and maybe get more information out of him. Then, and only then, could she really trust him.

At least today she didn't feel so paranoid anymore. It made her realize that maybe she was actually going crazy yesterday and blew everything out of proportion.

"Before I decide to release you this morning, I'd like to check you up again to make sure that everything is fine. We'll wait for the results of the tests that we've taken and then I would like to see you back here for a follow-up appointment ok?"

Amy nodded.

She dealt with the cold medical tools for the last time. She barely even shivered this time.

"Alright young lady, you're all set. I've already scheduled your follow-up appointment so you're free to go whenever you're ready but I understand if you just want to stay here forever."

Amy actually smiled. This doctor was peppy AND sarcastic.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>That evening, Amy's dad finally came home and she only knew because she heard the fighting.<p>

She and her mom had already discussed her condition and she got her mom to agree to allowing her to go to school tomorrow.

It wasn't that she was exactly eager. She just was really curious.

She also didn't want anyone to start worrying about her. She was really fine now.

Surprisingly, her friends had texted her but not so surprisingly most of them had texted her to be nosy about what had happened at gym.

_**Cream**__- You didn't come to school today? R u ok? What happened yesterday?_

_**Blaze**__- What happened?_

_**Rouge**__- Guuuuurl you know I have to have the scoop! Where r u?_

She sent the same reply to everyone.

_**Amy**__- I'll tell you tomorrow_

Why was it that she could never say what she really wanted to say? Granted Cream had asked if she was ok but had they even gotten a clue?

She wouldn't say anything about it if they didn't ask.

_Joseph you didn't even call once! She asked for you! Were you that busy?_

_Elizabeth, I wanted to call but I couldn't. I'm sorry._

She really didn't want to hear it.

She went over to her desk and turned on her laptop. She put earbuds in her ears and let the music take her away on full blast.

She decided to check her social network account.

She saw that she had five notifications.

She was invited to play a stupid game. Did people really intentionally invite you to these things? She really wished they wouldn't.

She had one new message.

**Shadow the Hedgehog** Did something happen?

Her eyes scanned the words over a few times.

She wouldn't even mind the fact that he didn't say hi or anything. It was just like him to get straight to the point.

But since WHEN did he ever give a crap?

_Since he took an interest in you…_

NOPE! Those high addicts weren't right. They were just making up stories so they could laugh.

Deciding to give her brain some time to process whatever this was, she checked her remaining notifications.

She had a friend request from one of the potheads.

Then she had another friend request from the other pothead.

Their profile pictures actually showed them blowing out smoke in rings.

She laughed, though she couldn't hear herself through the loud music. It was such a coincidence!

She accepted the requests and was going to look through their profiles when she suddenly skidded back in her seat a bit.

Sonic the Hedgehog sent her a friend request.

Out of all the things that she felt, she simply sighed.

This guy really moved fast! Did he have any fear at all?

He wouldn't even let her rest just a little.

For two days straight now all she ever thought of was him and she didn't even want to!

She had to be cautious. Guys just didn't concern themselves with her like this. Especially not guys who looked like HIM.

However, maybe if she accepted the request she could learn a little more about the stalker.

Hesitantly, she accepted.

Instead of the potheads, she went straight to Sonic's profile. He looked innocent enough. His profile picture was of him smirking with his thumb up.

Why did it look so typical?

His outfit wasn't so typical though.

He was wearing a black t-shirt and black fingerless, leather gloves.

Was he a biker?

She looked at his general information.

His birthday was in the fall, he was allegedly seventeen years old, he attended school in another country, he was employed as a clothing cashier, and he was single.

How interesting?

Amy felt more at ease when she saw that he had 312 friends.

He was known huh?

Amy felt like the stalker now.

She was checking every inch of his profile.

He had a mixture of guys and girls who were his friends. A lot of them were from his other school. That was a good thing.

However, when she looked through his pictures, he only had a few and he wasn't tagged in any.

One of them showed him sitting on a rock in a forest-like area. It was night so the flash on the camera had illuminated his figure.

He was wearing a black tank top and black cargo pants with a red plaid shirt tied around his waist. He wore black leather boots over his pants and a long chain with a sword pendant.

His eyes were the most piercing thing in the picture.

He looked like he was caught off guard but just managed to look at the camera.

It was a nice picture…

Amy huffed in frustration. She couldn't find anything strange on this guy and she refused to go through his timeline. She would only resort to that if he gave her a reason to.

It was already 10:00 by the time Amy was done. She decided she had enough for one day. She would figure everything out tomorrow.

As she laid in bed, she heard silence. Not even a cricket or shuffle was heard.

She had a hard time falling asleep.

It was unsettling.

* * *

><p>"OMG AMY! You're here! Now you can give us a scoop!"<p>

They couldn't even give her a chance to take a seat and how comical…they saved her a seat this time. They were really THAT curious.

"Hun, I am in SUSPENSE! Shadow and the new kid got suspended for the rest of the week so I couldn't bother either of them. Shadow won't even answer my texts and the two jerks at the staircase aren't telling me shit 'cause I know they know."

Immediately Amy knew she wouldn't tell everything that she knew. Better yet, she would only tell them what they already could have guessed.

There was a reason why no one was saying anything and she wouldn't be the one to spoil it. She still had things to figure out herself.

It was surprising enough to know that those two got suspended.

"Well umm I got detention. I did some errands during lunch with a teacher who gave me community service hours. I forgot to eat lunch so I went to the nurse for the rest of the day. Then I went to detention and then I went home."

"Umm…AMY! DETAILS!"

"Not much happened. We couldn't talk in detention so I don't know what you guys expect. If you're wondering, Shadow and the new kid didn't say anything to each other."

"So why were you absent yesterday?"

If there was one person Amy felt could actually be a true friend, it would be Cream. She was the ONLY one who mentioned or even cared about her absence.

"I guess not eating lunch was worse than I thought. I felt really sick in the morning so I decided not to come."

"Amy, you're definitely eating lunch today. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, I feel great."

It was kind of lie. She was barely "great" these days.

"Well that sucks…here I thought you had all the juice Amy."

"Good morning class!"

Amy was actually eager to start class. Her friends were starting to get on her nerves already.

They just wanted gossip material that she refused to give.

At what point did she become so disconnected from them?

X

* * *

><p>The days passed uneventfully.<p>

One would think it gave Amy a break from all of the sudden mystery but it was actually worse.

It felt normal again…lonely again.

And she realized how much she DIDN'T like it.

How did she put up with it for so long?

And this time she didn't even have Shadow to be paired up with.

By the end of the week, Amy had found excuses to skip lunch with her "friends" and go to the staircase with the potheads.

It was scary to say, but she could actually laugh with them and enjoy their company.

They didn't even bother her about Shadow either. It was as if they knew she didn't want to hear it.

They let her know that he was alright though.

She had realized that she never answered his message. She STILL didn't know what to say.

He asked her a simple question but she didn't know why and what he meant. Did he know something?

The message remained unanswered throughout the weekend.

She had been invited to the mall and though she had really wanted to decline she heard that Shadow was coming.

She wanted to talk to him. He wasn't off the hook either, not by a long shot.

HE was the one who attacked Sonic.

So that Saturday she put on black leggings, a chunky royal blue sweater, and black military boots.

She arrived at the mall earlier than her friends and for a good reason. She knew Shadow was usually early as well.

"Rose."

Amy saw him approaching but she didn't say anything.

"What a strange color you have on."

She was confused at first but then she put it all together. Her sweater was deep blue. Wasn't Sonic about the same color?

"Funny you say that. That's what I want to talk about."

He smirked.

"What did he tell you because I know he told you something."

"First of all Shadow, how do YOU know him because I know you know him. You don't just attack people you don't know."

He was still smirking.

"I knew him. I was…surprised to see him."

Amy didn't know if she should reveal what Sonic had told her. It was obvious that there was still bad blood between them. She didn't want to exacerbate the issue by being in the middle.

"Oh."

He was staring at her and she could bet that he knew it would make her talk.

"Look, I don't know what really happened between you two but somehow I feel involved. I don't want to be left in the dark."

"Why do you feel involved?"

"Because…well…I can't really explain but I talk to both of you."

"You just met him, how do you 'talk'?"

"HE talks to ME."

"I see."

It was oddly quiet and Amy refused to let the conversation end. She got the vibe that Shadow WANTED it to end.

"Why did you attack him in gym? I've never seen that side of you."

"I just felt like it."

"Bull! I know you."

"Do you really know me Rose?"

She paused.

"Well…maybe I don't."

He smirked.

"Don't worry, you probably know me better than most people."

Amy looked down at the floor. This conversation was going all round in circles. He was definitely conducting it.

She really wanted to get to the point! She wanted to hear Shadow's side to the story but he wasn't nearly as talkative as Sonic.

"How do you know Sonic?"

"I don't think I came here for an interview."

"So you don't want to answer anything is that it? That's all you have to say."

She hoped he wouldn't say it.

"We knew each other in the past."

"But how-"

"AMY! SHADOW! You're here!"

Rouge ran up the mall strip and grabbed Shadow into a hug who obviously didn't like it because he made no move to hug her back.

She stood straight and even removed Rouge's arms from around him.

It didn't ruffle her feathers though. She simply slapped him on the arm and turned around to Amy.

She did that fake kiss on the cheek which was really just putting cheek to cheek and making a kissing noise.

"How are you hun? I love your sweater; that color blue looks gorgeous on you! Dress like this more often."

Amy didn't know whether to take this as a compliment or an insult because it honestly sounded like both all wrapped up in one.

As usual though, she said nothing.

Instead, she was glaring daggers at Shadow who smirked at her. He was always smirking like something was amusing.

He didn't get away with anything if that's what he thought. She would talk to him again but maybe later when he couldn't get out of it.

"Sup guys."

Knuckles came walking up not too far behind.

"Hey.", Amy smiled.

Shadow just nodded.

Soon enough, everyone had met up and as usual Amy was out of the loop, forced to consolidate with Shadow.

As usual he never said much so she didn't say much. But THIS time she was itching to say SO much. She just couldn't do it in front of all her friends.

Rogue, Blaze, and Cream would be happily browsing stores while she just wanted to get Shadow to talk.

Occasionally they would pull her over to try something on that she honestly didn't like but tried on anyway.

It was harder to tell them "no" than it was to just comply.

They would just laugh at her or cause a scene that she really didn't want.

By the end of the shopping, she was highly annoyed though she had enough experience with it to know how to hide it.

She didn't want to try on the tube top, or the mini skirt, or the push up bra.

It was even more embarrassing when Rouge called over Shadow and he caught a glimpse of the tube top.

Amy wasn't sure how Shadow had been persuaded to come in the store but he had and the moment she stepped out of the dressing room, he was there.

She remembered that he looked surprised but only someone who was around him for long would know what it looked like.

She didn't see much of anything else because she rushed back into the dressing room and slammed the door.

Her friends didn't know it but she was on the brink of crying.

The only thing that stopped her from doing so, was the fact that she had to come out and it would only be worse if they noticed she was crying over this.

Little did she know that SOMEONE wasn't pleased with the whole thing.

They had pushed Rouge and stormed out of the store.

Then they had gotten into a fight with Knuckles and left the mall entirely.

* * *

><p>Amy knew something was wrong the moment she stepped out of the store. Everyone was quiet and she didn't see Shadow anywhere.<p>

She didn't ask because somehow she knew something bad had happened.

Knuckles wasn't saying a word but he had looked a bit roughed up.

"You know how he is babe. There's no need to be angry! He didn't mean to hurt me or anything."

Rouge kept holding on to him as they walked. She was speaking to him almost frantically.

Amy kept her head down. Somehow she knew SHE was going to get blamed for whatever had happened or they would all talk about her when she left.

Suddenly, she felt a vibration.

She took out her phone and saw that she had a notification on her social network.

She was eager to check it because she really wanted to stop feeling so awkward.

**Sonic the Hedgehog** Hey, I noticed you accepted my request. I didn't want to say anything so soon 'cause I didn't want you to think I was a big creep. Anyway, how r u? What r u up to?

Amy subconsciously held her phone closer so only she could see it.

She hated it, but her heart was racing.

One…she didn't want her friends to see because she would never hear the end of it.

Two…she hadn't expected him to still try and pursue her.

She put her phone away and continued to walk.

She would get to it later.

* * *

><p>It was school again and Amy was running late because the bus was running late.<p>

She cursed her laziness in trying to get her license.

It was quite a snowy morning and Amy had made the mistake of going out with a semi-wet head.

She hadn't looked outside when she took a shower and decided to wash her quills.

She barely had time to fully blow-dry them so she pinned the frizzy quills into a bun.

She didn't like how she looked but she thought she could fix it when she got to school.

So when she arrived jogging down the hall, she knew she couldn't fix it anytime soon.

"Ms. Rose how nice of you to join us! Do you have a late pass?"

Amy was out of breath and could barely answer her teacher.

She was unnerved by the amount of eyes that she knew were on here. Why did teachers always have to discuss things so publicly?

Amy stepped towards her teacher and handed her a late pass.

She didn't have time to put her jacket and things in her locker so she dealt with the temporary sweat from running and the heat from the classroom.

She looked for an empty seat and inwardly gasped at the only seat that was left.

If she kept sitting next to him, everyone would think that they were friends or that she would always sit next to him.

"Keep it moving Amy, we still have class to conduct and you're interrupting it."

"I'm sorry."

Amy scurried across the classroom and sat in the only empty seat.

She was thankful when the teacher continued the lesson and took the attention off of her.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Amy took off her jacket, hat, gloves, and scarf. She stuffed the hat, gloves, and scarf in the arm of her jacket and hung her jacket on the back of the chair.

"Why are you so late?"

"Why are you asking me about MY business?"

Amy took out her notebook and a pen. She would be focused. She wouldn't let anything else distract her.

That was until she saw a folded piece of paper on her desk.

_Why are you so late?_

Amy's eyes went wide.

_Are you my mother? Anyway, the BUS was late_

Amy sighed. She wasn't going to focus after all.

_You could carpool with me if you want_

Did he really think she would accept a ride from him? He was practically a stranger and even worse than that!

_That's alright_

From the side of her eye, she could see him smirking.

_Are you sure? You're not still afraid are you?_

Amy rolled her eyes. This guy was turning out to be quite annoying. She decided not to write back and actually pay attention for real.

For the rest of the class, Amy was able to concentrate because no one had bothered her.

Class soon ended and she had understood at least half of it all. She wasn't the brightest of her grade but she certainly wasn't below average. She was slightly above average in the B+ range.

The smartest of them was Cream who had a record of not missing any homework assignments and handing in all of her papers on time.

She wondered how smart HE was. After all, she definitely wouldn't go for anyone who didn't take school seriously.

"My offer still stands whenever you want to accept it. There's nothing wrong with getting a ride. It definitely beats the bus."

"How do you even HAVE a ride? Do you work?"

"Yeah."

"What do you do?"

"Someone's a bit nosy?"

"Whatever."

Amy was going to walk away but then Sonic grabbed her hand.

"W-What are you doing?"

"I'm kidding, can't you take a joke?"

"No."

Suddenly she wasn't in the mood. He was really annoying her.

She turned away and walked out of the classroom.

X

* * *

><p>"You talk to the new kid?"<p>

"No."

"Then why do you guys always sit next to each other?"

"Because I came in late today and that was the only seat available."

"Oh…we saved you a seat but then Knuckles decided to sit with Rouge and then Silver and Tails came over and-"

"Don't worry about it, it's alright."

It WASN'T alright.

Amy was angry as usual but didn't say anything about it. The only reason Blaze was even talking to her right now was because she wanted to know about Sonic.

That was all Amy Rose was ever good for.

Every single day it was variations of the same old thing.

She was always treated the same way ever since high school.

They were all so close in elementary and junior high. She thought they would always be that tight.

But then she was different from them the moment they all got boyfriends.

Suddenly she wasn't good enough for their clique and they always used her when they needed something.

Why did they even include her in things anymore if all they ever did was ignore her or embarrass her to make her the joke of the group?

They would never know how it made her feel.

They would never know how many nights she cried.

They would never know just how much they affected her.

"PRINCESS!"

Amy sighed.

One of the potheads came strolling up to her.

"You know them Amy?", Blaze asked.

And what if she did? They paid much more attention to her than her "friends" did. They weren't even all that bad when you gave them a chance.

"PRINCESS!"

"What?"

"Skip class with us."

"Wh-"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Amy looked over at Blaze. What difference would it make to them if she skipped or not?

"I believe someone was cocky enough to think I was calling THEM princess. Otherwise, I don't think I was talking to them."

Amy bit her lips to keep herself from smiling.

"Just because you wear stick on, plastic jewels in the middle of your forehead doesn't make you royalty honey."

Amy licked her lips this time to hide the urge to laugh.

"Amy, let's go before some trouble starts."

"Princess, come with me and chill."

So now she had a choice to make.

The passing bell would ring any minute now and she would either go to class with Blaze or skip with the pothead.

If she skipped with the pothead, Blaze would tell everyone else and then all they would do is talk about her behind her back. They might even let it slip to others who could possibly tell on her.

If she went to class with Blaze she would avoid all of that.

"Come on Amy."

"What'll it be princess?"

The bell had rung.

She looked at Blaze and then at the pothead.

"Let's go."

She smiled.

"Atta girl princess!"

The pothead put an arm around her shoulder and began to lead her to the staircase.

For the moment, she didn't want to deal with her "friends" or anyone else.

Little did she realize just how much she was beginning to change.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note- I'm sorry about this late update! I was working on and editing it all this time!<strong>

**I would never abandon this or stop writing it. It might take a while for me to update but I definitely will!**

**School is heavy for me atm :-/**

**I want to thank everyone who is reading, following, reviewing, or favoriting this story. Thank you for your patience also!**


	4. Catalyst pt 1

"This way Princess!"

"Aren't we just going to the staircase?"

"For your information, we're going somewhere different just for you!"

Amy followed the pothead to the staircase where she saw his partner in crime.

"Sweet! You got her to come!"

"I'm surprised. Why DID you decide to come?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders.

"I just wanted a break.", she replied.

Both potheads looked at each other and shrugged along with her.

"Good enough!", one smiled.

"Let's take her to the spot.", the other whispered.

"Umm wait a minute, what spot? This sounds a bit…illegal."

Amy crossed her arms.

"It CAN be. But we're not doing anything like that today."

Today? So they did that kind of stuff other days?

Amy could only shake her head. She wasn't even surprised.

"Shadow's already there?", one of the guys asked.

"Yeah, he never came in to school anyway.", the other one replied.

"What do you mean Shadow's already there?", Amy interrupted.

Both potheads looked at her and she had to admit that it made her feel a bit uncomfortable.

"I mean…I thought it was just us.", she spoke again.

"Aww, isn't that cute! Princess wants us all to herself!"

Amy sighed.

One of the potheads put his arm around her shoulder and started to pull her toward one of the school's most deserted exits.

"We can tell him to leave if you want?"

"You don't have to. He's already there.", Amy sighed again.

"What's the problem with him anyway?"

"Nothing. I just thought it would be us alone. It's no big deal."

Like hell she would tell them what was really up!

She simply wanted to avoid Shadow, plain and simple.

Ever since the mall incident, she just didn't want to face him or even know what really happened.

"Don't worry he probably won't say much anyway. He just smokes. It'll be like he's not even there."

Amy appreciated how considerate the potheads were of her feelings. They persistently cared about how she felt. Not that she constantly needed it, but it was nice.

* * *

><p>The journey to "the spot" was a quick one even with the snow on the ground.<p>

"The spot" was actually a darkened corner around the exit of a large parking lot flea market.

Amy didn't even know a flea market existed close to school. She knew it was close based on the distance that they all walked but she couldn't retrace the steps. There were several strategically based turns in the direction that she gave up trying to keep up.

The potheads practically dragged her the whole way anyway, and she let them.

"Bet you didn't think it would be here Princess!"

"I knew it would be a dark alley of some sort but no, I didn't expect it to be near a flea market."

"Sometimes we even get away with browsing around but we don't try it too much. They'll realize we're skipping school."

"Really?"

"Yep, and then they'll take us back to school in the cop van like we're serious criminals for wanting a break."

"But sometimes it's not just a break for you guys is it?"

"I like you Princess, you're the sharpest tool in the shed!"

Amy didn't know whether the potheads were being sarcastic with her or not but either way she didn't care to ponder on it much longer.

As they snuck into the dark corner, low and behold there was a red and black hedgehog already waiting.

"Sup Shadow man!"

Shadow seemed to ignore but he raised an eyebrow at the pink hedgehog.

"You guys brought her along?", he spoke.

"Is there a problem with that?", one of the potheads asked.

"You realize she's not used to this right?", Shadow countered.

Amy stood awkwardly and was extremely close to opening her mouth on the devilish looking hedgehog but the potheads beat her to it.

"Oh, shut the fuck up Shadow and let the girl live."

"Yeah! If she wants to chill let her chill. Smoke your shit and be peaceful!"

Shadow glared at Amy for a few seconds before he actually pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lit one up.

Amy watched, somewhat intrigued, as Shadow exhaled the smoke. It could have been mistaken for his breath in the cold if it weren't for the elegant way the smoke seemed to rise.

He was definitely showing off.

"Why are you looking at him so hard Princess? You want to smoke or something?"

Amy turned to the pothead.

"Of course not! Do you know what's in that stuff? You'll never see me doing that!"

The pothead laughed.

"Never say never babe."

There was an odd silence after that.

Quickly, Amy physically felt someone staring at her. And of course someone was.

What did Shadow want THIS time?

The moment she drew up the strength to look at him, he calmly looked away from her.

For some reason, Amy was getting annoyed. Were they just going to stand around silently? Were they just going to form a circle and look at each other?

"What exactly are we going to do here?", Amy crossed her arms.

"What do you think?"

"Smoke? I don't want to do that."

"Then what do you want to do, your highness?"

"I want to go to the flea market."

"But we told you that there's a risk in getting caught. "

"Then fine, you guys just stay here. I'M going to the flea market."

Amy had to admit to herself, it was bold of her to just walk off. But she knew deep down that she would be followed. Maybe that was why she was so confident.

"Let's go."

The potheads stared incredulously at Shadow.

He dropped his cigarette and smashed it out with his shoe.

"We're following her?", one asked.

Shadow didn't say anything.

"Guess the prince needs to follow his princess."

The potheads snickered.

"They probably won't tell us anything today because it's a snow day, some schools may be out.", Shadow suddenly said.

"He's not even denying it!"

Shadow started to walk. It was a signal for the potheads to follow.

There were only flurries for now but it was expected to get worse.

* * *

><p>Amy was like a kid in a candy store. There were so many tents filled with so many surprises. She could browse for the whole day if given the chance!<p>

Aside from the tents were food carts. There weren't many people so there weren't any lines. It was fantastic!

One inhale alone filled the mind with thoughts of warm sugar cookies, hot chocolate and sweet pastries.

Amy's mouth already watered.

As she continued walking, her eye caught a tent with homemade bracelets.

From afar, Shadow and the potheads watched her as she went into the tent.

She tried to walk nonchalantly but they could all tell that she was excited.

What they didn't know what that she had collected bracelets, though she didn't always wear them.

Her collection at home included bracelets from places she and her family had traveled to. She kept them in a jewelry box that her father had given her for her thirteenth birthday.

It meant a lot to her, especially now. Her parents' relationship was getting worse by the days and the collection she had was one of the only reminders of when they were all together and happy.

Before she could even ponder on it an further, she was brought out of her thoughts.

"These are handmade sweetheart. Braided with the finest threads and the beads were painted by hand."

Amy smiled as she looked over at all of the bracelets.

They were tightly braided in different colored threads. There were ceramic beads with painted flowers on them. There were also fake crystals woven into the thread.

Immediately her eye was drawn to the blue threaded bracelet.

There was a pink one but it wouldn't stand out in her collection. There was a green one but it wasn't bold enough. There was a black one but it was just too dark and she had enough dark bracelets. What her collection needed was some color; some brightness. The blue one looked beautiful.

"How much are they?"

"Hmm usually I charge fifteen dollars but I'll cut you a deal. How about ten?"

Little did she know that the potheads came running over.

"I got it Princess!"

One was fishing through his book bag for money it seemed.

"No I do!"

The other pothead shoved his friend and pulled out some bills from his pocket.

"You guys really don't have to do this, I can pay for it."

That was when Amy saw Shadow and suddenly she didn't have a mouth anymore.

She watched as he extended his arm to the saleswoman. He had a crisp ten dollar bill and handed it over.

The saleswoman smiled that sickly sweet smile. It just said it all.

"How cute!", she was probably thinking.

Amy huffed in annoyance.

"Have a nice day honey!"

Amy managed to smile at the sales woman but the moment she walked out of the tent she stood in front of Shadow.

"I said I had it."

"Yes you did."

"I didn't need you to pay for me."

"You didn't."

"Take the money back from me then."

"No."

Amy looked shocked. Why was he being like this?

"What are you doing this for?"

He didn't answer.

Then she heard the potheads snickering. It was very…suggestive. Yet, she didn't want to think like that. He didn't possibly feel any kind of way towards her.

But this was the first time a guy had technically bought her something.

As much as she wanted to lie to herself and regard it as nothing, it was a big deal to her.

"Why did you get the blue one?", Shadow suddenly asked.

"Why should I answer you when you didn't answer me?"

"I'll answer you if you answer me first."

Amy paused. Did she really want to know his answer? Was it better to imagine what the truth was?

And why did she have to answer first?

"It was the best looking one for my collection."

"You collect bracelets?"

"Yes."

"So then what about black? Or red?"

"I don't know, those are a bit dark. I wanted a bright color; a color to make me happy when I open up my jewelry box and see it."

Shadow seemed to glare at her.

She was immediately confused. She had no idea what she said that could have possibly offended him.

He walked away from her, from everyone.

The potheads were oddly quiet, not even making side comments.

She hadn't done anything! Why was it always her fault?

She looked into her oversized bag for her wallet. She followed Shadow to a tent that had shining daggers, swords, and shuriken.

He seemed engrossed in looking at the weapons so she easily stuffed a ten dollar bill into his coat pocket.

"Keep it. I don't want you to think I owe you anything."

The exchange was silent. Amy couldn't even look at him.

She didn't say another word as she tried to walk back to school.

"Princess? Wait up!"

She didn't stop. In fact, she wanted to punch something. How could she let someone like Shadow bother her so much? She felt the tears in her eyes but she knew she could easily blame it on the cold.

He brought her so high and brought her back down in a matter of minutes.

She didn't know what she said but he just suddenly got so angry.

Was it her fault?

She shook her head and kept puffing forward. Her breath came out in clouds as she tried to calm herself down.

"Do you even know the way back?"

She knew it was the potheads following behind her.

"No."

"So then where are you going?"

"I'll get there!"

One took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"Don't let him bother you. It's not your fault."

Amy inhaled and exhaled. She was trying very hard not to cry. She wasn't a baby.

"Thanks but-"

"I'm telling the truth."

Amy actually looked at the pothead hedgehog's face. His hazel eyes said that he was serious. He wasn't joking this time.

"Well how do you know?", she accused.

"I know ok?"

"That doesn't mean that I'll allow him to treat me like that!", she yelled.

"Then why do you let the other bitches treat you like that?"

Amy paused. The tears started to fill her eyes.

"What does that have to do with anything?", she whispered.

The pothead paused this time and his partner had stayed silent through the whole thing.

When nothing was said, Amy turned back around and jogged off.

"Look what you did man!"

She could still hear them behind her.

"Why did you have to say that?"

"It's already obvious that her friends treat her like shit yet she doesn't show them the side of her that can stand up to them. If she told them off like she did just now, then they wouldn't control her."

"It's none of our business who she chooses to be friends with."

"Come on bro, you care about what the hell happens to her 'cause she's the first person to give a damn about us."

Amy was far enough away that she couldn't hear them anymore. At the same time, the dark hedgehog calmly caught up to the male duo.

"Just stay behind and make sure she gets to school.", Shadow finally said.

* * *

><p>The wind seemed to pick up and blow the tears right from her eyes.<p>

She knew she was walking aimlessly at first but then she realized how lucky she was.

She seemed to take all the right turns because she finally recognized where she was. She could definitely get to school on her own.

The air was chilling and she couldn't wait to get to some warmth.

She should have never skipped class. Did she think it would be so much better with the potheads and Shadow?

Well the potheads hadn't bothered her but…why did they always have to go everywhere with Shadow?

She tried to walk faster. She just wanted to forget everything.

She exhaled a sigh of relief as she saw the school's gates.

However, the closer she got to the school the more she saw students exiting the building.

Was it a fire drill?

"This was too good to be true."

"I know right! I can't wait to get home!"

"School was extremely boring today anyway."

"If the snow gets worse, do you think school will be closed tomorrow too?"

"Let's cross our fingers."

Amy watched from a corner as the two chatty girls walked away to the parking lot.

School was closed? Was everyone dismissed early? Did anyone notice she was gone?

Her heart started to pound.

Then she heard familiar voices.

"Hey Knuckie, wanna try to squeeze in a date?"

"Rouge, you must not understand that there's a STORM coming. School got released EARLY. They haven't done this is years. It's because they want us to go HOME."

"It's barely snowing right now!"

The group laughed.

"They're anticipating power outages Rouge. Go home."

Blaze playfully pushed Rouge.

"What the hell can I do at home? Stare at the wall?, Rouge pouted.

"How about we group chat. I'll send the invitation when I get home.", Silver suggested.

Everyone seemed to agree.

"What about Amy guys?"

Everyone looked at Cream. She had spoken so suddenly.

"Yeah, we'll send an invite to her. Though, I don't see the point. She never talks in it anyway."

Rouge tried to wave Cream off.

"No, I mean we haven't seen her. Did anyone try to text her?", Cream spoke again.

"Well I told you guys she decided to go with the rejects so I left her alone. It's obvious she doesn't want to hang with us.", Blaze shrugged.

"I'm still shocked that she decided to skip like that. Good girl gone bad!"

Rouge and Blaze laughed.

"Next thing you know, she'll be smoking weed with them and flunking out in school."

"I'm nobody's mama so I won't tell her what to do."

"Neither will I. That's why I let her decide on her own who she wanted to go with."

"Hope she had fun inhaling second hand smoke."

Rouge and Blaze laughed again.

"Are we going to keep talking or are we going to try and make it home before the storm comes?", Cream interrupted.

Tails looked at his girlfriend with concern. She had rarely gotten frustrated or bossy.

Like her, he decided to remain silent during the whole conversation. But he noticed that his girlfriend had spoken up more than she usually did.

"She's right. We need to get going.", Tails said.

"Alright Mr. and Mrs., don't get your panties in a bunch.", Rouge laughed.

They finally started walking to the parking lot.

The moment they were out of range, Amy slid down to her knees.

She didn't care that the snow was dampening her jeans and she didn't care that her knees hurt from the concrete sidewalk.

"Princess…"

She didn't look up. She stared blankly at a spot on the ground.

"Come on, get up…"

One of the potheads tried to take her hand but she wouldn't let him.

"Don't be like this. Forget them."

She didn't budge.

"Get up Rose."

She still didn't respond. However, that was until Shadow grabbed her arm to pull her up.

She wasn't strong enough to resist his strength. He literally pulled her to her feet with one hand around her arm.

What he didn't expect was the slap of rage that stung his cheek.

Even SHE was shocked.

Immediately after she had done it, she gasped.

"I-I'm s-sorry."

She started running.

* * *

><p>She didn't know where she was running to but she was running away.<p>

She was running in the opposite direction that she needed to go to take the bus home.

She quickly ran past the parking lot and down a back street.

It felt thrilling to run past all of the fast cars. There was no sidewalk so she was running very close to cars.

They must have thought she was crazy but she didn't care.

The snow flurries hit her face like little dull pins but she didn't care.

As she got to the head of the street, she had to slow her pace because she was getting tired quickly.

It was hard to run with her bag and a thick jacket.

She saw a crosswalk and decided to run across it while the lights were green.

It was risky but she was pumped on adrenaline.

Sure cars honked at her and short stopped, but she kept running.

She even started to laugh. With each car she dodged, she laughed.

She turned up a random road and continued running.

She knew she couldn't keep it up for much longer. She was breathing heavily and her hands were starting to feel frost bitten.

Suddenly a car honked loudly and froze her in place. She wanted to keep running but this time the bright lights of the car stunned her.

Lucky for her, the streetlight turned red and the cars stopped but THIS car had short stopped about two feet away from her.

Her heart pounded like a metal hammer, yet her feet remained planted where they were.

She stared blankly as the driver of the car in front of her got out of the car.

"Ames! Get in the car!"

She looked shocked.

"Hurry up! The light will turn green!"

She continued to look like a deer caught in headlights.

She barely registered the blue hedgehog coming up to her and easing her into his black car.

She stared ahead as he drove off. She didn't know where, but she didn't care. She wasn't even afraid.

He didn't say anything to her and deep down inside she was thankful; thankful that he didn't question her, thankful he just kept driving, and thankful he had stopped her before she had done something drastic to hurt herself.

It was additive, what she had just done.

She understood why people bungee jumped from cliffs, jumped from helicopters, and zip lined from mountains.

Adrenaline was like a drug.

When she kept running with the danger of getting hit, it had given her life. It had taken her mind off of reality. But now it was coming back to her…everything was.

The next thing she knew, the car had stopped.

He got out of the car and opened her door.

He didn't reach out towards her or grab her up.

He simply left her door open and walked into an apartment building.

She figured this was her invitation.

She got out of the car and walked into the lobby of the apartment building.

He hadn't actually left her. He was waiting by the elevator. His arms were crossed while he leaned against the wall.

He looked her straight in the eye and it was intense.

At school he looked so young but right now he looked fierce and mature.

She was almost mesmerized.

It was almost like seeing him for the first time.

He had loosened his dark gray, wool scarf from around his neck. He had also opened the buttons from his black trench coat.

Underneath she could see a plain, deep red, V-neck sweater.

His dark wash jeans fit loosely enough but were still slim. A loop of three thick chains hung from two of his belt loops.

He was certainly dressed for the weather. On top of the jeans he wore leather snow boots, and on his hands he wore fingerless black gloves.

She felt young compared to him right now. She also looked a mess.

How did he manage to look so mature and elegant? He could pass for twenty-one if he wanted to.

She barely noticed the instant when he pressed the elevator button and it opened.

He stepped inside, so she subconsciously stepped inside.

She continued to follow him down a hall and into an apartment door.

"Make yourself at home.", he said.

She hadn't moved an inch though. She took time to look around.

He walked down a hallway and into a room she assumed.

It wasn't a bad looking apartment but it wasn't expensive either.

There were the bare necessities; a kitchen, a small living room with a decent sized television, a bedroom, and a bathroom she assumed.

That's when she realized that she actually had to go use it.

She took off her jacket, hat, and gloves and neatly let it hang from the arm of the sofa chair.

She felt self-conscious all of a sudden. She just knew she looked a mess.

Sonic hadn't come out yet. She assumed he was in his room or something so she opened the door that she assumed to be the bathroom.

However, that was when she realized Sonic wasn't in his bedroom.

In shock, she jumped back and pulled in the door.

He was washing his face but why was he practically naked? He was in his boxers and that was it!

The image of it was still in her head.

He was…well sculpted.

She saw the same sword necklace that she remembered seeing in one of his pictures.

She could practically feel how cold it felt against warm, BARE skin.

She could imagine tracing the defined lines and curves that hard work must have produced.

Before she could go any further, Sonic stepped out with light gray sweatpants on this time.

"Got an eyeful huh?", he smirked.

She looked down at the carpeted floor. He still hadn't put on a shirt.

"I-I just wanted to use the bathroom."

He smiled.

"Go ahead. I'm done. "

She made sure she watched him go into another room. The last thing she wanted was to run into him inappropriately again.

She went into the bathroom and locked the door.

For all she knew, he would return the favor.

As she sat on the toilet doing her business, she looked around.

There wasn't excess decoration, proof that he had just moved.

There was his toothbrush and a cabinet that she decided to look through after she was done washing her hands.

There was deodorant and cologne.

She took the glass bottle and held it up to her nose.

It definitely smelled just like him…somewhat spicy yet woodsy.

There was rubbing alcohol, bandages, mouthwash, and antiseptic.

Those were standard things.

She decided she was done snooping.

When she walked back into the living room, Sonic was already sitting there.

"There's water boiling for some hot chocolate. Is that fine?"

She nodded.

He still hadn't said much to her.

He sat there watching her.

She fought the blush down. She was thankful that he put on a white t-shirt.

"Want to watch some tv?"

She shook her head.

"Play a game?"

She shook her head again.

"Talk?"

She didn't move.

She never felt so…unexplainable in her whole life. She didn't know what she felt. Her emotions changed so much in the span of two hours.

She had gone from being late to school, to skipping class, to realizing school was closing early, to running nowhere, to staying at Sonic's place.

She had never been so impulsive in all her life.

"I didn't see you after first period."

She didn't say anything.

"Are you ok?"

That was such a simple question. It required one word, either yes or no. It was a question she wasn't asked in so long.

Someone she barely knew could come along and manage to ask her the one question that she wanted someone to ask her the most.

He deserved the truthful answer.

"No."

"What's the matter?"

"…"

"Amy, trust me. You can tell me whatever is on your mind."

She didn't say any words but her eyes were telling the story.

"I won't tell a soul, I promise."

She shook her head.

"I know you want to talk about it. Anything you say is safe here with me."

Her throat started to hurt from keeping herself composed.

"Is it school?"

"…"

"Is it home?"

Silence.

Then suddenly she decided to speak.

"It's….I-"

_KNOCK-KNOCK_

She jumped from the sudden noise. The person didn't knock lightly at all.

She could easily see that Sonic was frustrated by the interruption and that had actually made her feel something inside.

He got up from the sofa and went to get the door.

Amy watched his back as he moved.

Did he really want to listen to her? Did he CARE to listen?

He was the only person in her whole life who didn't bombard her or talk down to her when she had done something "bad".

He simply took her for a drive to his place without really saying anything, she was fully aware of that.

She wondered if it was the fact that he didn't say a word or even ask her why she was doing what he caught her doing that made her fearlessly follow him.

What happened to the fear a week or two ago?

"Sir, there's a mandatory lock down of the building because of the dangerous conditions outside. You and your friend will remain here until further notice."

Amy did a double take.

What the hell did he just say?

Amy rushed off of the sofa and over to the door with Sonic.

"Why is there a lock down?", she asked.

"Did you not look outside the window sweetheart? Nobody's going anywhere. This has been declared by the local police and fire department."

"But I can't stay here! I have to go home!"

"Well I'm sorry honey, you can't leave the building. Give your folks a call before the power goes out. We have backup generators waiting but you can't rely on it."

This had to be a nightmare. Amy could just anticipate the amount of trouble she would be in.

"Ok, you need to stay right here then. YOU'RE going to tell my mom exactly what you just said."

The guy was shaking his head.

"Ma'am, I have to go from door to door right now. I don't have time to stop and talk to your mother."

Just as Amy was about to protest, Sonic's presence seemed to take over.

He stepped forward and completely in front of Amy.

Suddenly she felt like the bright sun being covered by thick clouds.

"I'm sure you have a few minutes to spare. Talk to her mother and tell her the situation.

Amy peeked from behind Sonic's back and watched as the guy cleared his throat and fidgeted in place.

"I suppose I can speak for a minute or two."

Amy was a little taken aback. Why had he refused with her?

Either way, there was no time to waste. She jogged back into the living room, got her phone from her bag and began dialing her home number.

"_Hello? Amy where the hell are you? Your school called home and said they had early dismissal yet I don't see you!" _

"Mom, I umm…"

It hit her that she had no idea what to say. The whole truth was ridiculous to tell and it would get her in even more trouble. But she didn't want to lie so terribly that it would catch up with her.

She looked up at Sonic, searching for some kind of support.

He speeded into the living room and brought over a notebook. It was opened to a page that discussed a group project in the class that she missed. He was pointing to it.

"_Amy? Where ARE you?"_

"Uh, I-I'm at a friend's place. We wanted to get a group project done early since we had the extra time but just as I was about to leave someone from his building said no one is allowed to leave."

"_WHAT?"_

Amy pulled her phone away from her ear for a moment.

"_First of all, you're at a guy's house and you didn't tell me anything about it? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU AMY? Who is it?"_

"Y-You don't know him."

"_I ASKED WHO IS IT!"_

"Umm…"

Amy looked over at Sonic again. He nodded, confirming that she could tell her mom.

"Sonic the Hedgehog."

"_Who the hell is Sonic the Hedgehog?"_

Amy rolled her eyes. That was exactly why she told her mom that she didn't know him.

"He's my partner for the group project."

When she looked at him again, she could see him smirking.

Then it made sense. She had just agreed to be his partner for whatever group project it was. He was really slick.

"_And why didn't you tell me before?"_

"We just found out about the project today. We wanted to get a head start."

"_Amy, while that is responsible of you that was irresponsible at the same time. You didn't call home and you went to a building for Christ's sake. I don't even know where you are!"_

Amy saw the way the guy was tapping his foot at the door. She almost panicked. He was actually waiting for a while.

"Here, talk to the guy!"

Before she could hear her mother's voice, she passed the phone to the impatient building worker.

"Hello Miss. In Heather County, the fire and police department have mandated a lockdown of this building because of the weather conditions that the area will be facing."

"_So are you telling me that my daughter cannot leave the building at all? Even if I come to pick her up?"_

"With all due respect, you probably cannot make it out here Miss. The conditions have already intensified and will worsen."

"_Put my daughter back on the phone."_

The guy handed the phone over and promptly walked away.

"Mom, I-"

"_I need to speak with Sonic's parents."_

Amy felt stumped again.

She mouthed the word, "parents" to Sonic.

With unknown skill she read Sonic's lips as he mouthed, "Stuck at work".

"They're stuck at work."

"_Oh my God. I swear Amy you are in a lot of trouble. How do you think I feel? My teenage daughter is stuck in Heather County with an underage male whose parents are stuck at work!"_

"I-I'm sorry."

Amy could hear her mother exhale heavily through the phone.

"_I'd like to speak to Sonic then."_

Amy's heart started to pound.

Would her mother yell at Sonic too?

This truly was all her fault.

She held the phone out to Sonic. She wouldn't look at him.

"Hello?"

"_Is this Sonic the Hedgehog?"_

"Yes it is. Hello Mrs. Rose."

"_I understand that your parents are stuck at work and you are home alone?"_

"Yes Ma'am."

"_And my daughter cannot leave the building is that correct?"_

"Yes Ma'am."

"_So listen up. I have no choice but to wait this storm out. I don't know how long the conditions will persist but the news anticipates that it follows into the night. If that is the case then I understand that she will be overnighting there. I will be calling every hour to check in on her so long as she has connection there. If I come to find out that you have done anything at all to her, I will sue the shit out of you, your parents, and that goddamn building."_

"I understand Ma'am. I have no ill intentions with your daughter and I will accommodate her to the best of my abilities."

"_I hope so for your sake. Put her back on the phone."_

Sonic smirked as he handed the phone back to Amy.

"Hello Mom?"

"_Amy, most likely you will be overnighting there. I've already told Sonic what I wanted him to know and now I'm telling you there better not be any funny business. I trust you to make smart decisions. Like I told him, I'll call ever hour or so as long as you have connection. Text me the address of the building as soon as I get off with you. I'm coming first thing in the morning ok?"_

"Yes Mom."

"_Ok, be safe. I love you."_

"I love you too."

Amy hung up the phone and let out a sigh.

"That wasn't too bad huh?", Sonic laughed.

Amy actually started to laugh at the sarcasm of it all.

"She told me she would sue the shit out of me, my parents, and the building if I did anything to you."

Amy started to laugh even harder.

"I see where you get it from now."

Amy reached over and shoved Sonic.

"Shut up and tell me the address to this building."

Sonic obediently told Amy the address as she texted it to her mom.

"There, everything is done. She should be calling back a little while from now."

Amy slumped in the sofa.

"Alright…So I suppose you're hungry?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah…A little."

"I don't really have much. I don't have people over often."

"No, no I understand. You weren't…expecting this."

Before Amy could even have a bad thought, Sonic spoke again.

"I'll go to the lobby and see what they have ok? I'll be back soon."

"You're ok with just leaving me here alone? I could snoop through your things."

"Be my guest.", Sonic winked.

He was out the door within the next few seconds.

It was completely silent in the room. She could hear the wind howling strong outside.

Her mind could only wander to the bad things that happened in the day.

Suddenly, she felt sad again.

Suddenly, she came back to the reality of her life.

Immediately, Amy realized how lonely she felt without the blue hedgehog.

* * *

><p>"Apparently sandwiches were delivered from a local deli around the corner. So I got three boxes because I didn't know what you preferred."<p>

Amy looked at the three black boxes each labeled turkey, ham, and pastrami.

"Which one is for you?", she asked.

"I had something on the way home before I picked you up."

"Oh."

Amy opened all of the boxes and looked inside each one.

Each sandwich was saran wrapped with lettuce and tomato. There was an apple in each once and a bag of potato chips.

It looked better than school lunch!

"So you don't want any of it? You're not going to get hungry later?", Amy asked.

"You want them all don't you?"

Amy was shocked. How dare he read her mind!

"NO! I'm just asking you!"

"You can eat the others if you get hungry later.", Sonic calmly added.

"FINE, IF YOU SAY SO!"

"Aren't you usually supposed to say that phrase a bit calmer?"

Amy couldn't help herself. She started to crack a smile and then she started laughing.

"I don't know what gets into me sometimes, sorry.", she smiled.

"Nah it's fine. You like to scream, I like to follow people home late at night when I'm bored. Who's to be the judge of that?"

Amy laughed again.

"What did you just say?", she asked.

"What did I just say?", Sonic repeated.

Amy kept laughing.

"So, are you eating or what?", he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Amy opened the ham sandwich box and started to eat.

She was all into it until she looked up and saw Sonic looking at her.

"Umm, I can't continue if you keep doing that. Can't you turn on the television or something?"

"Don't have cable."

"But didn't you offer to watch tv a while ago?"

"I wanted to have some options for you."

Amy shook her head and took another bite of her sandwich.

She looked up to see Sonic looking at her again.

"STOP! Occupy yourself with something else."

He continued to stare so Amy huffed and stared right back at him.

Then she saw him smirk. He just HAD to get annoying.

"You must not be very hungry.", he said.

"I AM. I just don't prefer to be stared at."

She didn't want to back down, so she kept staring into those bright green eyes. They held so much humor and challenge in them.

When he was the first one to look away, she inwardly cheered.

He got up and went into one of the rooms down the hall.

"Finally."

Amy went back to her sandwich. She really was hungry. It was just hard to eat when it was so silent and you were the center of someone's attention.

Ironically, her eyes followed Sonic as he came back out with a video game system, two controllers, and a game.

She continued to eat and watch as he set everything up to the television.

She finished her sandwich within the few minutes that Sonic took to set the game up and get it started. She didn't say a word or make a comment when he started playing some kind of first person shooter game.

As she crunched on her apple she watched on intently as Sonic went into an online matchmaking party and started shooting other people.

She wasn't completely dumb when it came to video games but of course she didn't have experience because she never had a system. However, she knew about the popular games from overhearing conversations from the girls' boyfriends.

She had also watched them play when she went over to Rouge's house with the rest of the group.

If she had to be the judge, Sonic was actually really good. His aim was incredible.

Amy was so into watching that she had bitten her apple all the way to its seeds.

"Watch out behind you!", she suddenly yelled.

Sonic had skillfully shot the person who had been slowly advancing on him from behind. Amy had been watching it from the radar.

"Thanks, I thought that person died already.", he replied.

"Yeah, he kept coming off the radar. I guess 'cause he wasn't moving much."

"It's hard to watch people like that when you have others rushing on to you."

"Do you play this game a lot?", Amy asked.

"Yeah. I play it in my spare time. I never need television."

Sonic was replying to her but he was also focusing his attention on the game he was playing.

It was capturing Amy's attention as well. She never had a sibling to play with and her friends…they were a whole other story.

Deep down, Amy knew she should have been wearier of Sonic.

She never could shake off the feeling that there was something fishy about him but she still followed him to his place. She got in his car.

Why?

He had a magnetic kind of pull to him. She just couldn't put a finger on it.

He annoyed her, yes, but even then he had her attention. When he was around she would always know, she couldn't ever miss him in a large crowd.

He always seemed to announce his presence to her.

He would make her laugh even when she didn't want to.

Sure he was attractive. He was smoking hot if she was to be completely honest!

But somehow she didn't feel nervous around him like she would have if it were another hot guy.

Somehow she knew she could tell him about herself and he wouldn't make fun of her, gossip about her, laugh at her, or think she was crazy.

He would listen.

"You want to play?"

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of his voice.

"I don't know how to play.", she quickly replied.

"I'll give you a quick rundown. Come over here."

She moved as if she couldn't understand what he said.

"Today?", he asked.

Amy looked at Sonic's expression and could tell he was being sarcastic.

"Shut up, I'm coming."

Amy jogged over to where Sonic had been. She sat on the floor next to him.

"How do you have another controller anyway?"

"Always suspicious huh?"

"For you, I have to be."

"I brought this along with me when I moved here. I used to play a lot with my friends."

"I see."

Sonic handed Amy a pink controller.

"Wait a minute, why do you have a PINK controller."

Sonic smirked.

"My ex used to play with it. It was the only way she would play with me."

Amy was stunned to silence.

She didn't have an instant remark.

He had an ex? As in an ex-GIRLFRIEND?

Of course he had girlfriends, just look at him! He was nice enough too!

Why did she even think that he wouldn't have already been with someone else?

She was so naïve!

But that wasn't all she felt.

For some reason, she didn't like to know that he had an "ex".

Sure they weren't together anymore and he moved to a completely different place but it tarnished her vision of him being….well HIM!

Maybe he wasn't ever coming on to her at all.

Maybe he just really DID want to be her friend and that was it.

And in that case, she was just being mean and nasty.

Knowing that he had an ex had brought her back to the reality that this guy could have any girl he wanted. Why would he ever want her?

No one wanted her.

"…And the trigger in the back is to throw a grenade. Got it?"

Amy looked up at Sonic's face.

She really didn't have it. She wasn't listening.

"Yeah."

She looked at the pink controller in her hand. It belonged to his "ex" and here she was playing with it.

Then she looked at the buttons.

It couldn't be that hard to play. If the left back trigger was to throw a grenade then the other back trigger had to be shooting.

That was all she really had to know.

She would just stick with Sonic and let him cover her.

And that's exactly what she started to do once they started a round.

She pressed a few buttons to actually see what would happen.

She was right about the shooting. And the gun had reloaded by itself.

She was in a crouching position when she pressed a red button and she focused the gun's aim with a blue button.

She figured that was all she needed to get by until she figured out more difficult mechanics.

"Amy, you can't keep following me like that. It's hard for me to keep them off of you. They already figured that you're going to stay by my side so they distract me and shoot you."

She was actually dying a whole lot. She was shooting but she couldn't aim for shit.

The moment she locked on to an enemy, they would shoot her down already.

"SONIC! This is hard!"

He started laughing.

"Don't even laugh. You just said I couldn't follow you so what am I supposed to do?"

"Follow me."

"But you just said not to!"

"Follow me THIS time."

Amy followed Sonic to a small shelter area.

"Crouch and shoot from here. You'll have more time to aim before they spot you and shoot you first."

"OOOOOOH! Good idea!"

Amy watched as Sonic's solider ran away.

"Aren't you staying here too?", she asked.

"Nah. I'll shoot them off from outside. Be prepared for them to come in here when they actually get me down."

"Ok."

Because Sonic wasn't wearing a headset, he and Amy could hear what other players were saying.

"Looks like TrueBlue is protecting that Guest again."

"It's probably his girlfriend. She sucks."

There was laughing.

"It's so easy to kill her. We have to kill TrueBlue first then she's a goner."

"FREE POINTS!"

Amy was getting angrier with each thing that was being said.

So they knew she was a girl huh? Because she sucked huh?

"Don't even worry about them. Anyone who just starts playing a game like this is gonna suck.", Sonic suddenly said.

"But they think I'm a girl!"

"You ARE a girl."

"No, I mean just because someone sucks doesn't mean they're a girl."

"You're right."

"I know I'm right!"

"So show them what you've got!"

Sonic winked at her and somehow she smiled.

Sonic was still standing strong as he shot everyone out of the way. He definitely had to have played this game a lot.

But then there was a golden opportunity. Amy had been making good use of herself by studying the radar.

She was already aiming for the person who wasn't moving much, but slowly advancing. He was doing the same thing the other player was doing when she was just watching before.

She was aimed and ready for the shot.

Sonic wouldn't be paying attention like last time and it was possible that he would die if this person got close to him without his notice.

The person crept slowly once again while Sonic was busy shooting others who were too busy trying to kill him so they could get to her.

Then the golden moment came.

The enemy solider showed himself and she was aimed perfectly for his head.

She pressed down on the right trigger and didn't let go until the solider fell.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"The girl killed you? YOU SUCK!"

"HAHAHAHA SHE GOT A HEADSHOT TOO!"

Amy couldn't help but smile with pride. That would give them something constructive to talk about.

"Check you out Ames!"

Sonic's smile was so contagious. She couldn't recall another smile that was so bright and handsome and perfect.

She couldn't help but smile and she was certain she was blushing too.

It was a good thing that the match was over because she wanted to end off on such a good note.

"You have a good eye for the radar. It'll come in handy. I was never good at paying attention to the radar."

"Yeah, but your shooting definitely makes up for it."

"It does, doesn't it?"

Amy was shocked. He was cocky!

He laughed.

"I'm kidding babe."

Again, she knew she was blushing. Her neck felt so warm.

Why was he saying such things?

"Do you want to play another round?"

Amy nodded.

They played more than another round. They ended up playing for another hour and a half. They were only interrupted when Amy mom called to check in.

They had told her that they were playing video games.

They had moved on from playing on teams to playing other objective games where they had to take over the enemy team's base.

That was Amy's favorite since it was easier for her to drive Sonic around in a war vehicle than it was to shoot.

She didn't realize how much fun playing video games was. She was considering making enough money to get her own system and buy the same game she and Sonic were playing.

Maybe she could even play online with him from her house.

It all sounded great and the laughs and jokes were abundant.

She almost forgot about everything that had happened in the day…almost.

It started with the lights.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: Looks like this story is on a monthly update schedule. Hopefully when the semester is over I can get move on this!<strong>

**Thank you to all who read, reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! **


	5. Catalyst pt 2

It was silent except for the howling wind outside.

"Sonic, I think the power went out."

Amy was still holding the gaming controller in her hand, completely frozen.

"I can see that Amy. Or rather, I CAN'T see it."

"I hope you're not trying to be funny right now."

She heard him chuckle.

"What are we going to do now?"

She bolted up from her spot on the floor, making a show of dropping the gaming controller.

"Stop panicking, that's the first thing.", he said

Amy knew it was possible that the power would go out but she was so engrossed in the game and playing with Sonic that she wasn't prepared for the reality of being in total darkness with someone she barely knew.

"Do you have candles or a flashlight?"

She kneeled down again, underestimating her proximity to Sonic.

"No."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?"

"You're panicking Amy.", he said.

"HOW CAN I NOT? You have no candles, no flashlight, no food, no anything! Are we just supposed to sit here? I don't even know where I am!"

It wasn't as dark as Amy had exaggerated it to be. The sun had not yet set and there was faint light coming from a small window in the kitchen. It was enough to safely navigate the kitchen and living room area.

So maybe she was panicking.

Panicking definitely wouldn't help the situation or change it for that matter.

So she closed her eyes, inhaled through her nose, and exhaled slowly from her mouth. She concentrated solely on her breathing technique.

"Is that working for you?"

"Don't talk to me."

Amy was determined and would not let Sonic disturb her. She blamed him for her anxiety anyway.

Silence was never a great sign when it came to the blue hedgehog so Amy couldn't help it when she finally opened her eyes.

Low and behold, green orbs were looking right at her.

She was going to ignore it this time. She concluded that he had a staring issue.

"What are we doing?", she asked instead.

"What can we do?", he countered.

"We're not just going to sit here in the silence of each other's company."

He chuckled.

"Maybe one of the neighbors will take you in then.", he offered.

"Are you crazy? I don't know them!"

"They could be better company than me."

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work."

Amy crossed her arms.

"What am I trying to do?", he asked.

The blue hedgehog was so infuriatingly frustrating.

HE KNEW! He knew EXACTLY what he was doing.

"You want me to admit that you're better company but I won't.", she explained.

"Where did you get that from?", he asked.

"Oh please, don't even act innocent. You're far from it."

Of all things, she could clearly see that smirk.

"There's still hot water for the hot chocolate if you want it.", he said.

"And do tell me Sonic, how am I supposed to make the hot chocolate?"

"You tear open the packet, then you pour the powder into the cup, then-"

"I didn't mean like that! The power is out so don't you think it's too dark to be handling hot water?"

"I'll do it."

She heard Sonic getting up and walking over to the kitchen. She hated to admit it but she also smelled him when he passed her.

And she especially would not admit that she could tell that it was faintly different from the cologne she smelled from his bathroom.

She sighed.

It was Amy's hope that the building would get power by the time there was no natural light at all.

The day was turning out to be too unreal.

Honestly, she just wanted to close her eyes and start the whole day over.

"Here, the little marshmallows were there but then they dissolved."

Amy took the mug that was handed to her. It was warm to the touch.

"What about you?", she asked.

"What about me?", Sonic retorted.

"Aren't you going to have some?"

"It's too sweet for me."

Was he for real?

"Then why did you buy it in the first place? Of all the things for you to have in your house, you have something sweet like hot chocolate?"

"I didn't buy it.", he said.

"Ok?"

When it was clear that Sonic would not elaborate, Amy simply drank her beverage. He could keep his weirdness to himself then.

It was quiet again, except for the wind that sounded like a riot outside.

When Amy looked up from sipping her hot chocolate she was startled by the way Sonic was looking at her.

It was like every time she wasn't looking, he was staring at her for God knows what reason.

It wasn't a glance, a gaze, or even just a once over kind of look. She wouldn't even call it a stare anymore.

He looked at her with an intensity that no one ever had. It made her very aware of herself and she wasn't sure if she liked that.

"Ok seriously, why are you always doing that?", she asked.

"Doing what?", he asked.

"You always do that too. You act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

Sonic laughed a little.

"What can I say, you're a confusing girl."

Amy gaped.

"Oh please! I'm the confusing one? I think that's all you."

"You're confusing me even more Ames."

"Well you're confusing me the most!"

He smiled and this time he didn't hide his teeth in that awful smirk.

It was…cute.

She took a sip of her sweet drink, partly because her throat was suddenly dry. The other part of her just wanted to look distracted.

She didn't exactly appreciate Sonic analyzing her. Oddly enough, she didn't like to be the center of attention.

Whenever she seemed to be, it was always to be the butt of every joke.

She had grown to absolutely loathe it. Sometimes it actually seemed like the more she tried not to be noticeable, the more noticeable she became.

Amy drank the remains of her hot chocolate while it was still warm. By the time she finished thinking about her life it would be cold.

Without a word, she attempted to go into the kitchen to wash the mug.

She was surprised when Sonic didn't stop her. She expected him to take it off her hands but maybe she shouldn't have assumed anything.

Sonic wasn't a predictable kind of guy, she knew that much for sure.

Amy put some soap on a sponge by the kitchen sink and turned on the water to start cleaning her mug.

She jumped at how icy cold the water was. It was expected though. She was scrubbing vigorously, trying to get the job done fast.

Amy hissed at how cold her hands felt after she turned off the water.

They were so numb that just before drying the cup off, it slipped out of her hands.

_**CRASH!**_

She couldn't even feel the pain but she watched as trails of blood dripped from the palm of her hand.

The blood was falling all over the broken mug and the kitchen tiles. It looked like a crime scene, yet Amy did not scream.

X

* * *

><p>He was staring intensely at her, and not how he usually did. This was brand new.<p>

"I-I'm sorry."

He had to be angry with her.

"I can try to replace the mug and I'll clean this all up. I just need to get something to-"

"Amy?"

Oh no, he was speaking through gritted teeth. He was definitely angry.

Among all things, she felt guilty.

She broke his mug after all and by his behavior, it seemed like maybe it was sentimental to him.

"Go clean yourself up in the bathroom."

"Sonic, I'm-"

"Go Amy!"

Amy couldn't even form the words to respond.

Her feet moved instead, her hand dripping blood in a trail behind her.

Before she attended to herself, she watched as Sonic stormed out of the apartment.

Where would he go with this power outage?

Was he really THAT mad?

The last thing she wanted to be was soft but she couldn't help but feel the tears stinging at her eyes.

She didn't mean to cause a mess.

Everything just happened so fast!

One minute they were fine and now Sonic was mad at her.

She found the faucet and ran her hand under more icy water. Before it could bleed more, she took tissue and wrapped it around her hand. She sat on the cold floor, applying pressure to the wound.

At that moment she finally decided to let go. She cried much to her dismay and to add insult to injury, she was beginning to feel the pain of the wound.

She needed to get a grip. Every time conflict faced her, she couldn't just cry. She always wished that she was stronger than she was.

She couldn't continue sitting on the bathroom floor either.

There was still a mess in the kitchen. So Amy picked herself up once again and with her good hand, she carefully picked up the bigger pieces of the broken mug and placed them in the sink.

She wiped the kitchen floor the best she could with water and a paper towel.

Then she washed the broken mug pieces.

She had done it all with one hand. However, that was not to say that it didn't take a long time.

After she was done she disposed of all the bloody tissues and thoroughly washed her hand.

With nothing left to do, the place suddenly felt extremely empty.

Amy dragged her feet over to the living room. She laid down on the sofa and rested her head on the end of the chair.

None of this would have happened if she just had control over her emotions.

She should have never skipped class, she should have never cried and let her friends get to her, and she should have never run away without knowing where she was going.

It was so frustrating that she wanted to just scream to the high heavens but of course she couldn't.

She could never truly do and say the things she wanted to.

Soon enough, she found herself crying once again.

But whatever, she was alone after all. Sonic probably wouldn't talk to her anymore either.

It was a shame because he actually seemed to give a damn about her.

She closed her eyes. She would eventually fall asleep and maybe when she woke up, the power would be on and her mom would be there to pick her up.

It was a happy thought, so she continued to think about that until she finally fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>He was much calmer when he reentered the apartment.<p>

Everything happened so suddenly that it even shocked HIM out of character.

In his absence he had also managed to find some flashlights and battery powered lamps.

They wouldn't have trouble with light when the sun completely set.

He put them all on a side table in the living room.

What he didn't expect to see, however, was a lump on the sofa.

He crouched down near her.

He could actually get close to her now without getting out of control.

She had fallen asleep and it looked like she was cold by the way she was crouched in a fetal position.

It wasn't hard for him, in particular, to see the tear stains on her face.

She had also cleaned up as well.

Silently, he went into his room and grabbed the blanket off of his bed. He laid it gently over her and instantly she cuddled the thick blanket against her.

* * *

><p>Amy tossed and turned, becoming irritated with her lack of comfort. Yet, she refused to open her eyes.<p>

Her back was beginning to hurt and she silently wished that she could go lay down in a bed, preferably her bed.

She shifted, desperately trying to find a more comfortable position but to no avail.

Was it even morning yet?

Slowly she opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was that it wasn't as dark as it should have been.

Her sleepy eyes could definitely see bright lamps. They saw a strikingly blue hedgehog as well.

He was reading a book, though she couldn't make out the title with the way he was holding it.

Just when she thought she noticed him before he could notice her being awake, he turned those green orbs towards her.

It was awkward, VERY awkward.

"There's a change of clothes in my room. You'll be warmer with it on."

Was he still mad?

Sure he was offering her warmer, clean clothes but that didn't mean he wasn't still upset. She would know. She was a pro at doing that.

Nevertheless, she stood up and made her way down the hall. Common sense lead her to the only other door besides the bathroom.

Inside, there was another lamp which made things so much easier.

The bed was neatly made up and on top of it there was a thick hoodie and draw string sweatpants.

They were obviously HIS clothes and the idea of putting on HIS clothes was a bit…weird.

However, she wouldn't lie and say she wasn't freezing her ass off. She could have put on her coat, scarf, and gloves but then she'd never be able to fall asleep with all that bulk.

She tried to change quickly.

She discarded everything but her bra, panties, and undershirt. Then she zipped up the hoodie and pulled on the sweatpants. Naturally it was all large on her but not overly so.

She was an average size and Sonic wasn't so many sizes above her. Height was the only issue.

Just as she was about to pull the drawstring tighter around her hips she was suddenly braced against the foot of the bed, locked between two arms.

"What are you-"

"Why were you crying? I want to know.", Sonic demanded.

The way Amy's heart jumped couldn't have been normal. The way her hands trembled on the edge of the bed couldn't have been either.

"I-I wasn't.", she denied.

"You're lying.", he insisted.

"How would you know?", she asked.

"I saw the streaks on your face while you were sleeping."

"So?"

Silence.

Was that it?

Amy looked at him straight in the eye.

She was utterly confused and shaken up.

What had possessed him to barge in and ask her such a direct question? What had come over him?

Was it on his mind so deeply that he had to overpower her like this?

And was it really that evident that she was crying? She had yet to see what her face looked like.

She didn't know whether she was more embarrassed that he had clearly known that she was lying or that he was so close to her.

She didn't dare look away from his eyes; they especially held her attention and they were helpful in alerting her that he was about to do something.

However, they didn't prepare her for the actual thing.

He pulled the drawstrings tight around her hips.

In contrast to his rough pull, he gently tied the strings into a knot all while holding her gaze with his own.

His gaze didn't falter especially when his icy fingers lingered on bare skin just above the pants.

Wasn't this the guy that she swore she dreamt about? The guy she swore had red eyes? The guy who snuck into her hospital room for Christ's sake?

Her gut never truly accepted all that he had to say. She KNEW there was something else that he wasn't telling.

So then why did she allow herself to feel so tingly and odd? Why didn't she push him away? Why didn't she say anything at all?

She wasn't stupid. She knew about hormones and THOSE kinds of feelings, but she never knew how it actually felt.

She had heard Rouge talking about it.

Was this how it felt?

She didn't want much to do with this blue hedgehog. Yet, in the moment she wanted him to come closer and touch more of her bare skin.

To most, he was doing something completely innocent. The sweatpants were loose so he was tying the strings for her.

However, that wasn't the case. She knew it and she could bet her life that he did too.

It was all too seductive.

He didn't need to be so close.

He didn't need to keep his eyes locked on hers.

He didn't need to pull so tight, practically pulling her closer to him.

However, it would be just like him to do all of that on purpose just to rile her up.

"Thanks."

She pulled away from Sonic and power-walked to the living room.

She couldn't avoid him for long though. Hell, she couldn't even avoid him for more than a minute at this point.

He came following after her in just about that time.

The fact that he still was not saying anything made everything even more awkward than the moment when she first woke up.

She completely disregarded the mug incident because she was so smothered in uncomfortable air.

Did this bastard just go around pushing himself on girls and then making them feel weird about it?

No way would she just sit there!

"What time is it?"

So she asked a question instead.

"It's 2:17 A.M", he answered.

"And you've heard nothing about the power yet?"

"The storm is over. I don't know what damage it left but someone came by and said they're currently working to get the power up by 6."

"Oh."

"How's your hand?"

Amy was inwardly grateful that Sonic was trying to make conversation. She couldn't take silence around him.

"It's ok, it burns a little.", she answered.

"Did you disinfect it?", he asked.

"Umm, with what?"

He shook his head.

"What?", she asked.

Sonic got up and walked down the hall. When he came back, he had the bottle of antiseptic that she remembered seeing when she went through his cabinet when she first arrived.

He also had a small washcloth, toilet tissue, and tape.

While she still sat on the sofa he came over and knelt down in front of her.

Without her consent, he took her injured hand and traced his thumb over the slice in her palm.

It was so gentle, Amy twitched.

She knew he noticed it because she could see a ghost of a smirk on his face.

She was one hundred percent certain that he knew what he was doing now, even before in his bedroom.

"I'm just going to put the antiseptic on it. It'll fizz a bit but it shouldn't burn. You don't want the wound to get infected."

Amy let him do whatever he set out to do.

She watched as he put the clear liquid in the washcloth. He looked up at her with an expression that made her suspicious.

After he pressed the washcloth on her cut, she knew why.

IT BURNED!

"You lied!", she hissed.

"The worst of it is over."

What annoyed her was that he sounded so calm about it.

"You KNEW it would burn."

"If I told you, you wouldn't have let me do it."

Sonic skillfully folded the toilet tissue and covered the fizzing wound. Then he wrapped the tape around it.

"It's no bandage but it's the best I can do.", he said.

"Maybe you need to go shopping then.", Amy grumbled.

He smirked as usual.

"A little gratitude would be nice.", Sonic folded his arms.

"Eww, get out of here.", Amy laughed.

To her surprise, he smiled with her. She supposed he shared her humor.

"And I'll go shopping, if you take me.", he added.

The nerve of the guy!

He didn't seem mad at her after all but Amy did still feel somewhat guilty for breaking his mug.

Maybe the least she could do was take him shopping and get him a new mug at the same time.

"What makes you think I care whether you go shopping or not?"

Amy wanted to zipper her mouth.

She wasn't being very nice for someone who made a mess AND got nursed in return.

Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Well won't you be coming over again to work on our project?"

Amy had heard and seen those kinds of things in movies and shows.

The guy would inconspicuously ask the girl for a second date.

The only different here was that Sonic wanted her to come back to his place.

Amy swallowed to ease her sudden dry throat.

This was the closest she had gotten to another guy besides Shadow. This was even different because she was FORCED to get close to Shadow.

This felt more like FATE.

She didn't want anything to do with Sonic yet she kept running into him, kept being reminded of him…even in her dreams.

And she remembered that she had agreed to the damn project when she was lying to her mom.

With all this inner deliberation going on, Amy still didn't answer the question.

Did she really intend to come back and be alone with him again? That was putting a lot of trust in him but he had yet to offend her in any way. Well that was without counting the bedroom incident. But she wasn't exactly offended by what he did, she was just…

Amy huffed. It didn't matter what she thought about it. If Sonic was going to act like nothing happened then she would too. As far as she was concerned it didn't happen at all, it was her imagination as he liked to tell her.

"I take that as a yes.", he suddenly said.

"I don't know if I'll be coming back, who knows if my mom will even allow me to. We told her your parents were stuck at work remember? What would we tell her then?"

Amy didn't like the look on Sonic's face. It made her feel weird inside. What was he smirking at this time?

"So you thought it through already?", he asked.

Amy's cheeks and neck felt hot.

"Can you stop! We might have to find somewhere to work on the project and it might be your place, that's all!"

"So does that mean you'll take me shopping?"

"I don't drive and have a car like you so what do you think?"

"I THINK I could do the driving and you could do the shopping. Deal?"

Amy wanted to say "No deal" in spite but she actually did want to go shopping.

She would accomplish a lot by just doing it. She would replace the mug she broke, she would get groceries in return for Sonic's hospitality, and for a day she wouldn't have to deal with her friends or her conflicted parents.

Sonic wasn't a completely horrid person to be around either…when he wasn't trying to be.

"I could help you get the gaming system too if you want.", he added.

Oh he was too good! He knew that would seal the deal.

"How did you know I wanted it?", Amy sarcastically asked.

"Just a guess.", Sonic winked.

"You're sly for roping me in like that but fine. We can go next weekend if it's ok with my mom."

"Speaking of your mom, she should be coming in a few hours. I can properly meet her."

"You shouldn't be so excited."

* * *

><p>"Amy, why are you dressed in those clothes? Those certainly aren't YOUR clothes."<p>

"Mom, it's not what it looks like. It got really cold so Sonic loaned me his sweat suit to wear."

Amy's mom looked fiercely at Sonic. She didn't say a word, prompting Sonic to speak.

"It's true ma'am. I noticed she was cold while she was sleeping so I let her wear warmer, comfortable clothes."

Amy's mom seemed to accept it but then she looked down at Amy's hand.

"How did she get this?"

Amy's mom held her by the wrist and practically thrusted her injured palm in Sonic's face.

"Mom I-"

"I dropped my mug in the kitchen while I was trying to put it away. She tried to help me clean up and she cut herself."

Amy looked at Sonic in confusion. Why didn't he just tell her the truth?

"It wasn't a smart idea to try and do house chores in the middle of a blackout now was it? Regardless, I'm glad the two of you are alright.", her mom said.

Amy lowered her head in understanding. SHE would have been at the receiving end of that condescending tone if the truth was told.

"So what did you guys do all night otherwise?", her mother asked.

"Well we worked on the project. Then we had sandwiches that were delivered to the building by a local deli. We decided to take a break after a while and play some video games but that was also when the power went out.", Amy started.

"So then we talked about school and played 21 questions until Amy felt tired. While she slept on the couch I went out to find some flashlights and lamps that the front desk was giving out. She woke up and then I gave her the clothes to change into because she was shivering on the couch.", Sonic continued.

Amy couldn't help but recall what else happened when she changed into the clothes. The little bastard! But whatever, it was out of sight out of mind right?

"Then I went back to sleep.", Amy finished.

Amy and Sonic looked at Amy's mom in anticipation.

They didn't exactly tell the WHOLE truth and her mom wasn't the gullible type by far.

For one, Amy did NOT go back to sleep.

They DID play 21 questions which took quite a while since they had deep discussions about some answers. Amy had actually learned significant things about Sonic.

The most significant things that stood out was that he had a brother that had died along with his parents, he wasn't a virgin, he only considered one person his best friend, and he was "in love" only once in his life even though he had several girlfriends.

He had learned significant things about her as well.

Obviously he found out that she was a virgin because he also found out that she never had a boyfriend and she was never kissed.

He knew about her most embarrassing moment in middle school when she compared boobs with Rouge, Blaze, and Cream in a dressing room and got caught by one of the workers who accused them of minors being indecent in public and called their parents.

He also knew that her biggest fear was her parents breaking up. He was the ONLY one to know that.

They had conversation pretty much until the early morning when the power came back on.

Then they played video games again until Amy's mother came.

In those crucial few hours, Amy and Sonic had gotten closer.

To Amy, it was amazing and dangerous at the same time.

But with those two things, who wouldn't be a moth to the flame?

X

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm sorry for the long update!<strong>

**At times I lose inspiration but then I pick it back up and write because I do still have a plan and ideas for this story :)**

**Thank you to everyone who is still keeping up with this story after so long! Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favs as well! **

**I hope to update soon!**


	6. Development

School was quite a drag.

There was still a lot of snow on the ground outside that had yet to melt away in the cold weather.

It was no wonder that school had been closed for the remainder of the week following the storm.

However, during that time Amy had never felt so miserable.

She thought it would have been better at home but she was wrong.

It only took about ten minutes in the house to instantly feel as if weights were dropped on her shoulders and a cloud rained over her head wherever she walked.

Her parents continued to argue about God knows what anymore. So, she continued to lock herself in her room where she consistently used her computer.

It turned out to be quite a toxic thing.

She sat by and watched as her "friends" left her out on social media.

They would type posts about inside jokes that Amy didn't understand, yet everyone else liked them because they did.

She couldn't count on just ten fingers how many pictures there were that didn't include her. Where was she when they decided to pose for the camera?

Yet, they actually DID send her an invite to the group chat.

She had messages in her inbox as well

**Cream the Rabbit** Hey Amy, how are you?

**Shadow the Hedgehog **Keep your head up Rose

**Sonic the Hedgehog** What's up sexy? Hit me up ;)

Amy felt her heart racing. She immediately clicked back to her home page.

SOME people just did things to get a rise out of her and it seemed to work.

However, she didn't get to respond to anyone because for the remainder of the week she was preoccupied with the fact that her father had left for good.

* * *

><p>It was a cold morning as usual and Amy had been walking through hardened snow on her way to school.<p>

She was bundled in so many layers that she looked like a wobbling snowman, but she didn't mind being so covered up. It hid how much she wanted to break down.

She was in her own zone, listening to her mp3 player when she noticed a dark vehicle slowly trailing her.

Immediately, she turned the music off and used all of the senses that she could.

Already, she was planning her escape. There was no way she would let this creep get her.

She quickened her pace to see if the vehicle would keep up with her and it did. She could hear the low rumble of the car's slow pace with hers.

"Yo."

_No!_

She finally looked over and released a breath of relief.

"We scared ya didn't we Princess?"

Amy couldn't believe she was freaking out over the two potheads.

"Why are you trailing me?", she asked.

"You looked like you were struggling.", one said.

"And do you really expect us to just see you and pass like we didn't? Come on girl, we're not THAT heartless.", the other explained.

Amy exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, still trying to get over her jitters.

"Aww, we really scared her bro. Get in here Princess, you're making us feel terrible and that's hard to do."

Without much thought Amy got into the backseat of the car.

The first thing she noticed was that it smelled…interesting. If she had to be descriptive she would say that it smelled like artificial mountain pine with an underlying scent of something…illegal.

"You always walk to school?", one pothead asked.

"From the bus stop, yeah.", Amy answered.

"And none of those people you call friends can spin you over to school from there? That's a lot of bullshit if you ask me."

"Can we talk about something else?"

Amy sighed.

"Ok, what did you do during the storm?", the other pothead asked.

Amy exhaled heavily.

"Ok, something else then?", he asked.

"What did YOU guys do?", Amy countered.

"Do you really have to ask?", the pothead smirked.

Amy actually smiled.

"Please don't tell me that's the best thing you guys could have thought of.", she said.

"There has never been a better time. We were in the middle of a heated game online and then everything went out. Those pussies probably thought they won too."

"THAT HAPPENED TO ME TOO!"

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Say word? You play Princess?"

Amy realized she should have zipped her mouth. She didn't want to tell them she was playing at Sonic's place.

"Umm yeah, but not often."

"What's your gamer tag?"

"Well I used my cousin's account but I'll be making my own soon."

She lied. So did that mean she trusted that she and Sonic really were going shopping and they would get the console?

"Cool, cool. Hit me up at MrStoner when you get it."

"And mine is Playboi4u."

Amy laughed.

"Those are some names you guys have there.", she smiled.

"You get used to it.", one pothead shrugged.

In about five minutes, the three teens made it to school. However, only one got out of the car.

"Aren't you guys coming?", Amy asked.

"Nah babe. We were just passing through."

"Ok…you guys aren't going to go making trouble are you?"

"Don't you worry your pretty little head. Now go to class and don't linger with us."

Amy wanted to protest but in a way, she knew the two troublemakers were looking out for her. She just wished they would come to class with her and not skip all the time.

They were good guys, just misunderstood and judged by too many.

At first she had qualms about being around them based on what she had heard but after getting to know them herself, she didn't feel the least bit uneasy about them.

"Ok. Thank you for the ride!"

"Anytime Princess!"

As she walked into the school building, she still held hope those two potheads would make a turn around one day.

* * *

><p>"Amy, doll, how have you been? I haven't heard from you!"<p>

Amy had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

Rouge had turned out to be the fakest among her "friends".

They still had NO idea that she overheard them a few days ago.

"I've been ok."

No one else dared to elaborate further on any questions.

Just as they all gathered in the classroom, their teacher stopped them from taking seats.

"You guys can find your partners for the collaborative project and use this period to get some work done. Don't say I didn't give you time. It's due by the end of next week."

Amy watched everyone get into their pairs.

Knuckles was with Silver, Rouge was with Blaze, and Cream was with Tails.

"Oh wait! Who is Amy going to be with?", Cream asked.

"Umm, maybe she can ask if there can be a group of three?", Blaze suggested.

Typical…So typical!

"Ames? You ready?"

Not typical…REALLY not typical!

There the blue hedgehog was right next to her in all his glory with a bright smile on his face.

Her friends didn't even seem to faze him.

"Well, well, WELL! Little missy already has a partner so it's all good!"

Rouge always had to cause a scene and she had the nerve to justify leaving her out for the umpteenth time. If her encounter with Sonic had not happened, she would have been without a partner at all. But they'd just blame it on the fact that she skipped class. They wouldn't even have her back.

"And who might this be?", Blaze asked.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, I believe I was introduced already.", Sonic smiled.

First of all, Blaze knew who he was because she and Rouge wouldn't stop teasing her about him.

Second, Amy knew deep down that Sonic's smile was in spite. She had to conceal the urge to smile herself.

"Hey, Sonic. How do you like the school so far?", Tails asked.

Amy was a little surprised that someone out of the group was making any effort at all to say a word.

"It's pretty cool little guy. The people are a bit antisocial but it's expected. Ames here was my first friend. If it wasn't for her, I would be lonely and pretty lost."

Why was he saying all of that?

"Yeah, she's a great person! One of my best friends.", Cream smiled.

Amy felt hot under all of the attention. She wanted to move along. She could just sense the annoyance around her...or rather from a certain direction.

She decided to walk to the empty desk next to Sonic's in the front of the room. Not too long after, Sonic sat next to her.

"How are you feeling?", he asked.

"Why are you asking me that?", Amy countered.

"I never got around to asking you ever since you were in the hospital."

Oh. So he still remembered that?

"I'm fine. My mom told me it had happened once before when I got lost in the mall as a kid."

"Yikes. Got to keep an eye on you.", Sonic winked.

Amy rolled her eyes.

"I was young ok?"

"Still kind of young ok?", Sonic mimicked.

"Don't talk like you're so much older and wiser.", Amy retorted.

"I am.", Sonic simply stated.

"Probably not by that much so you can just-"

"Other than that, how are you feeling?"

That definitely stopped her in her tracks. Had he seen right through her? Why could he do that?

"Again, I'm fine. Why are you asking?", she answered.

"I don't know, I just get the feeling that something is off. Maybe it's just me."

"Yeah, maybe it's just you.", Amy mumbled.

For the remainder of the period they had actually gotten some work done without any argument or sass.

They came up with a definite topic, they outlined their paper, and knew how they wanted to present it.

"So I guess we have to get the poster board from the store?", Sonic asked.

"Yeah. I suppose we really will go shopping because we have supplies to get. Plus, I don't think I have any ink left in my printer and YOU don't have a printer."

Sonic wore that ever famous sly smirk.

"You can help me find one."

"Look, I'm not your interior decorator and if that's the case then you need to pay me."

"Oh I can pay you.", he smirked.

"I mean in money, jerk."

"I meant money. What did YOU think I meant Ames?"

Amy wanted to slap the smirk right off of Sonic's face. He always got her in this kind of position.

"You know very well what you insinuated.", she huffed.

For a moment she wanted to laugh.

Then that little bit of joy made her remember her current situation and why she couldn't feel it.

"What are you thinking?", Sonic asked.

Amy looked at him in confusion.

"What?", she questioned.

"I can tell that you're thinking about something else.", he answered.

"It seems like I can't hide anything from you, creep."

"I just pay attention that's all."

He just pays attention is that it?

So did that imply that everyone else in her life didn't pay attention?

She wouldn't lie to him; he deserved that much for being able to read her so well.

"Well, I don't really want to talk about it.", she responded.

"So there IS something?", Sonic asked.

Amy sighed.

"Yeah.", she whispered.

Sonic left it alone after that and Amy couldn't appreciate it more.

She wasn't ready to talk about her dad. She wasn't ready to talk about her desire to quit life in general.

But if she was to be completely honest with herself, she WOULD talk about it and Sonic would be the one to get it out of her.

X

* * *

><p>The rest of the school week passed by uneventfully. However, Amy did find herself interacting more and more with a certain blue hedgehog.<p>

One day it would be working on their project and the next it would be hanging out during study hall. By then end of the week she was having lunch with him in the hallway.

How it all happened so fast? Amy wasn't quite sure.

No matter how hard she tried to distance herself, he would squeeze his way into her vision.

There was just something very charming about the strange hedgehog.

When she got to know him she actually laughed at the idea that she thought he was something scary.

She shared his humor and he was a great listener. He remembered little things that she told him and was interested to know more about her.

Most importantly, she felt like herself around him.

She laughed to herself again as she waited at the head of the street for Sonic.

Her mom had agreed to let her go shopping with him. At first she had too many questions but then she eased up when Amy explained that they were going to get things for their project.

Once again, she was bundled up but this time she tried to make it look more stylish.

Instead of her bubble jacket, she wore her pea coat but under that she had on a thick white sweater and under that she had a tight long sleeved shirt.

She wore a thick pair of black leggings with black knee high leather boots.

Around her neck she wore a chunky, wine red scarf and matching gloves.

She blew warmer air into her gloved hands. She was more under-dressed than usual…for the sake of looking cute.

Speaking of which, she saw a familiar car making a turn.

Before she could even walk up to the passenger door, the blue hedgehog was already out of the car and rushing over to open the car door.

"You do realize that we're in a different time and place?", Amy asked.

"Who said chivalry had to die?", Sonic countered.

"Touché"

Amy allowed Sonic to usher her into his car.

She still wondered where he got it from and how he purchased it so quickly when he just moved but perhaps it was none of her business just like how some things were none of his business.

"So where exactly are we off to Ames?"

"The mall. It's the only one around here so you might know where I'm talking about."

"Fortunately, I do."

Sonic turned on some music and then sped away.

Amy was a little surprised to hear rap music as the car sped on to the highway.

The blue hedgehog was always unpredictable yet the music kind of fit him.

Amy tried not to look at him while he was driving but there were moments when she couldn't help herself.

It wasn't like she could check her phone because she didn't get many texts from her "friends" anyway.

When she DID sneak a peek, she couldn't help but inwardly swoon at the blue hedgehog's profile.

She had to admit that if he hadn't been as attractive as he was, she probably wouldn't have tolerated him the way that she initially had.

"What are you looking at?", Sonic suddenly asked.

_What the fuck?_

"I'm looking at the road, something YOU should be doing.", Amy lied.

"You don't feel safe driving with me?", the blue hedgehog smirked.

"Not really.", the pink hedgehog sighed.

"I've been driving for quite some time."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Sonic stopped at a red light and took the opportunity to look over at Amy.

Her expression dared him to challenge her.

"You're cute like that you know.", he said.

As defiant as Amy intended to be, she could not keep her façade.

She was sure he could see the rosy tinge of her cheeks.

It felt even more awkward when neither of them said a word after.

She wasn't going to take Sonic seriously. He was always playing around anyway…right?

"Your friends seem a little shy.", he said.

"Trust me, it's not because they're shy.", Amy mumbled.

"I heard you. Care to explain?"

"Either they shun new people or act sweet in front of their face and then talk behind their backs."

"I see. Is that true for the little guy and the cute bunny?"

Amy sighed.

Tails and Cream were genuinely nice it was just that they probably knew it was better to be a part of the group than against them.

"No. Cream is probably the only best friend I have left and Tails is a sweetheart.", Amy simply said.

Sonic didn't say another word about it.

"You look nice. What's the occasion?"

Instantly, Amy's heart raced.

"I don't usually look nice?", she countered.

_Nice save!_

But why did she even open her mouth to say that? It would only encourage the blue hedgehog.

"You look great everyday it's just something about today in particular. Did you do something different?"

In actuality, Amy did do something different...many things in fact. She put on eyeliner, mascara, wore perfume, straightened her quills, and put on shine serum.

Did he recognize all of that?

"I didn't do anything much. I don't really see the need to do a lot for school.", she said.

"So you see the need going out with yours truly?", Sonic smirked.

Amy felt hot under his scrutiny.

"You should really focus on the road. We're almost there.", she said.

Sonic settled with just smirking the whole way instead of teasing her.

Shortly, they arrived at the mall and finally found a parking spot in the crowded lot.

"A lot of people are usually here on Saturdays.", Amy said.

"Is it usually a lot of people from school?", Sonic asked.

"Ummm sort of, but it's a lot of people from other schools too."

Amy and Sonic walked side by side as they entered the mall.

Pink, the ultimate color of femininity, and blue, the staple color for masculinity, looked perfect together.

"Can I just say, I've never seen such an adorable couple since my days. You two remind me so much of myself and Pops."

An elderly woman had stopped the two hedgehogs in their tracks and spoke to them.

Sonic, of course, went right along with it while Amy blushed ten shades of red. The blue hedgehog even kissed his "girlfriend" on the cheek to add to the show. However, the reactions from the pink hedgehog were completely real.

"You're such an idiot Sonic.", Amy whispered.

Her cheeks were STILL warm all the way down to her neck.

Why did he kiss her? He didn't have to!

"Come on, it was fun.", he chuckled.

"But we're not a couple and now that lady thinks we are.", Amy complained.

Sonic pulled her into an embrace.

"Live a little AMY!"

Amy didn't like when Sonic held her so close because it confused her.

He seemed playful and flirtatious in nature but yet he didn't know how he was slowly having an impact on her.

"Can we do what we came here to do?", Amy shoved Sonic away.

"Are you mad?", he asked.

On the surface, she WAS upset. But, it was quite the opposite. She was only upset because he was constantly making her feel something that she didn't want to feel, especially if he was only joking all the time.

"I'm not mad. Let's just get the stuff ok?"

"Ok Ames."

* * *

><p>X<p>

* * *

><p>It didn't take long for Amy and Sonic to get everything they needed for their project. They had even bought some necessities for Sonic's place and the gaming console for Amy.<p>

In addition, Sonic had kindly purchased the game they were playing at his place and gave it to Amy as a starter gift.

Amy really did appreciate it but she didn't feel great allowing Sonic to have paid almost sixty dollars for the game. When she protested, he claimed that it was pay back for helping him get things for his place.

Soon enough, they were holding too many bags and had to make a trip back to the car to put them in the trunk.

They were finally getting the ink cartridges for Amy's printer. Luckily, she had known the model number for her printer offhand.

"This must be the dullest store in the whole mall.", Sonic complained.

"Why? Is it because there's no cute girls to wink at?", Amy laughed.

"That's not what I was doing.", the blue hedgehog protested.

"Oh really?"

The sarcasm was thick in Amy's tone.

"And THEY were looking at ME.", Sonic claimed.

"I mean, who can blame them?"

Amy immediately panicked.

What the fuck was wrong with her?

Was she suddenly so comfortable with him that she could just blurt things out without thinking?

And of course the evil blue hedgehog was smirking so proudly that she wanted to take the anger that she had with herself and release it on him.

She coughed.

"I'm going to go pay for this."

Instead, she practically sprinted off to the checkout line. However, the blue hedgehog was hot on her tail.

Amy needed distance from him but there he was right next to her and the silence between them was killing her.

She kept shifting her weight from left to right as she waited to pay for the ink cartridges.

"Impatient?", the blue hedgehog asked.

Amy "coughed" again.

"Yeah. This is the last thing we have to do and then we can go home.", she said.

"We don't have to go straight home. Why not enjoy the day out while you still can?", Sonic asked.

What exactly was he getting at? He wanted to keep hanging out with her?

"Umm, what did you have in mind then?", Amy asked.

"Did you want to get something to eat?"

How many times was her heart going to palpitate so vigorously?

It would be just them two, at a restaurant.

Was he asking her on a DATE?

Thank goodness she was next because she didn't know how to answer.

As she paid for her ink she didn't notice the change in atmosphere.

The moment she turned around to Sonic she knew something was wrong.

She wasn't sure what his expression was about but she knew it wasn't pleasant. Was it her fault?

"I-I'm sorry that you had to wait."

Amy felt the need to say something.

Maybe he was frustrated waiting for her. Her dad used to be that way with her mom.

OR…maybe he was mad that she didn't answer him.

She didn't have the time to figure it out because one moment they were in the store and the next she was in the middle of a stare down between two hedgehogs.

Oh no.

* * *

><p>Sonic stormed out of the store.<p>

It was worrying to see him behave like that but as soon as Amy followed him out, she realized where it all came from.

"Rose, fancy seeing you here."

Amy knew she had to extinguish the fire FAST.

"Hi, Shadow. What are you doing here?", she greeted.

Flashes of the incident in the gym replayed in her mind.

The two hedgehogs had looked savage and scary. It even looked like they had turned into something inhuman.

She didn't want to see anything like that again.

Just what had happened between those two?

"Just browsing around.", Shadow answered.

Sonic hadn't said a word yet. He was grilling the black and red hedgehog and he seemed to place himself in front Amy like a shield.

She didn't want to say anything about it at all. Any wrong word, and the whole situation could fly out of proportion.

"Well it was nice seeing you Shadow.", she smiled.

She ignored the very obvious tension and the fact that she had to side step Sonic to talk to Shadow. The best thing to do was promptly end the encounter.

"It was a pleasure to see you too Rose."

Amy could practically feel the malice rolling off from the blue hedgehog.

"Ames, I'll take you to one of the restaurants around here.", he said.

He turned towards her and gave her one of the warmest smiles she had ever seen from him.

"Y-Yeah, ok."

There was a brief moment of nothing, just three hedgehogs standing in place.

"Ok so, let's get going before it starts to get dark. Bye Shadow!"

Amy grabbed Sonic by the hand and started to pull him off while she waved to Shadow.

Once they were out of that vicinity, Amy felt cold fingers interlace with hers.

At first, her reaction was to pull away but she didn't.

She and Sonic walked like that until they got to the car and once again, Sonic acted like nothing major had happened.

And once again, she would act the same way.

But she couldn't help thinking that his hand felt nice. It was a nice contrast to the warmth of her own hands.

However, SOMEONE didn't appreciate it. Piercing, red eyes simply watched. They had been sorely watching for a long time now. Action wasn't too far away.

* * *

><p>Sonic had chosen a nice little restaurant with a short twenty minute wait.<p>

It was an awkward dinner at first but then things started to feel natural once Amy stopped obsessing over the possibilities of the dinner being a date.

She kept thinking about the countless amounts of articles she had read with Cream about dating and boys.

Dinner was such a classic way to ask a girl on a date.

Sonic had been technically flirting with her all the time.

He always complimented her.

He sent her weird messages online.

Amy wanted to finalize the fact that it was a date but she couldn't.

She wasn't nervous like she read girls should be and she didn't restrict herself when she ordered food either. She had a big steak with mashed potatoes and a soda.

Furthermore, they both split the bill.

She even had to wait on HIM as he went to the bathroom before they left. He took quite a while too.

As they made their way back home, he didn't say much. Thus, conversation was non existent.

It didn't matter anyway because Amy was comfortable regardless of the silence.

Sonic had switched to slower music; he was driving at a sound pace on the highway, it was toasty warm in the car, and Amy's stomach was filled.

Amy couldn't help herself from closing her eyes and taking a nap the rest of the way home.

It wasn't until she felt a grip on her arm and smelled the scent of delightful musk that she opened her eyes again.

"You're home Ames."

Amy gasped and flinched away.

Sonic was so close to her, holy shit!

He seemed to laugh at her reaction to his proximity.

"Five more minutes.", Amy grumbled.

She was really having a good sleep. She doubted that she could sleep so well in her own bed.

Then she realized how much she really didn't want to go home.

What was there for her anyway?

More agony?

Her mom would be locked in her room while she stayed locked in her own.

Whatever had transpired, her father wasn't coming back and he didn't even say a word to her yet.

Didn't her parents love her enough to tell her what happened?

Didn't she deserve SOME kind of explanation?

It wasn't like she would have protested anything. She just wanted to understand.

She didn't understand anything!

Why was all this happening to her?

"Sonic, I don't want to go."

One look in her eyes and Sonic was by her side.

Amy couldn't hold it in anymore. She hadn't intended to have an emotional breakdown, especially in front of someone she just met.

"Why don't you want to go Amy?", Sonic whispered.

He was right in front of her wiping her tears away with the pads of his thumbs.

Amy couldn't even catch her breath to explain.

Sensing the intensity of the moment, Sonic brought her close to him and held her tight. Regardless of his intention, it only made her cry more.

Who was this person who was so attentive to her? Why was he doing it?

She desperately gripped on to his jacket, almost pulling him closer.

She was feeling so many things at once and it happened so fast.

Was she literally going crazy?

One thing she knew for sure, Sonic was her pillar. If he wasn't holding her, she probably would have lost herself in the passenger's seat.

"Look at me."

Sonic pulled her up and held her chin up so she could face him.

Her face probably looked like a mess.

All that eyeliner and mascara probably ran down her face in streams of black. Her eyes probably looked swollen and puffy.

But Sonic still looked at her as if he saw none of that.

"Whatever it is Ames, just promise me to have faith that it will get better. I won't let you go until you can honestly promise me that."

"But you can't just say-"

"Amy, promise me."

Sonic took Amy's hands.

"Lean on me if you have to. I'll listen every single time. "

_Why?_

"W-Why would you do that for me?", Amy whispered.

Sonic's gaze didn't falter.

"There's something about you Ames. It makes me want to prove you wrong about every misconception that you have about people."

Amy didn't understand at first.

"You don't believe that people are genuinely good and it's like you're expecting everyone to let you down. You've been trying to push me away; you think I don't see that?"

Wet, puffy eyes widened.

"I completely understand it, but you don't have to do that to everyone. You'll miss out on a lot if you continue to deny help and companionship. Not everyone will be like those friends of yours."

Tears fell once again.

"You don't have to deal with difficult things on your own. I'm asking you to trust me…have faith and trust me. Promise me that and I promise that I won't let you down."

Sonic was pleading with her.

And...he was right about EVERYTHING.

But it was hard to trust anyone. Why put your trust in someone you just met, especially under the circumstances that SHE met HIM in the first place?

There were still so many things Amy didn't know about Sonic.

Her better mind warned her to just get out of the car and speak to him after she got some rest.

Perhaps she was just too worked up right now.

But for some reason, her heart was stronger and it already beat for a certain someone.

"I promise.", she said.

* * *

><p>Amy laid in her bed, staring at the ceiling.<p>

At the side of her, a bright light caught her attention.

**Sonic-** _Just made it home, have a good night Ames_

Now there was no turning back.

Sonic was unbelievable.

He was pushy and he was annoying.

But all of that didn't cease the incredible force going on inside of Amy.

_But for some reason, her heart was stronger and it already beat for a certain someone. _

Indeed, her heart was the master here.

And it was dangerous because Sonic had easily captured it.

X

* * *

><p><strong><span>Author's Note:<span> YIKES! Long update, I know! I'm soooo sorry to those who are still following this. I will try to be quicker!**

**As always, a big spectacular thank you to everyone who is following, favoriting, reviewing, reading, or having anything at all to do with this story. You make me smile :)**

**I hope to update soon! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! **


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